The Dallas Mavericks looked to finally have an edge when potential MVP James Harden cooled down in the second half, taking a breather on the Rockets' bench.
Then, Dwight Howard and Josh Smith happened. Resulting in a 111-99 loss for the Mavericks in Game 2, dropping to 0-2 in the best-of-7 series.
Scoring the first four points of the fourth quarter to take a three-point lead, the Mavericks looked to be finally pulling ahead, until a Howard free throw and alley-oop dunk, courtesy of Smith, stunned the momentum, eventually giving the Rockets the lead for good after a Corey Brewer layup moments later.
"Our effort was good. At the end of three quarters it was a one-point game and in the fourth, [the Rockets] just played at a higher level," Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said. "We have to put 48 minutes together."
The Rockets weren't done with just the one big dunk as the Mavericks allowed the Howard-Smith duo to connect two more times in the fourth for six total alley-oop dunks in the game between the two. Smith, who finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and nine assists, also dished for another two dunks by Brewer to cap the fourth quarter. Howard finished the night with 28 points.
"Those are a problem," Carlisle said about the Rockets' dunks in the fourth quarter. "We've got to study that and do a better job. Pretty obvious in the fourth quarter they jumped on us, on a lot of these plays. We're going to have to find a way to better combat that."
Despite being shorthanded with Chandler Parsons and Devin Harris both nursing injuries, the Mavericks overall held their own during the course of the game, but never got contributions from key players that were much needed as Dirk Nowitzki scored just eight points and Tyson Chandler finished with 11. While the points weren't there for Nowitzki, he did contribute on defense with 12 rebounds.
"I never really got a good rhythm today," Nowitzki said. "Not sure why, I felt decent, I tried to battle. I just didn't have the touch tonight unfortunately."
Making the game more difficult, Rajon Rondo got into foul trouble early, resulting in being benched the remainder of the game after picking up his fourth foul with about 11 minutes left in the third quarter. He finished with four points and one assist.
"[Rondo] got his fourth foul so I took him out. I liked the way the other guys were playing. So, I elected not to put him back in. Coach's decision," Carlisle said.
When asked about Rondo's effort level on the court, Carlisle said the entire team needs to be at it's best to turn around the series after starting 0-2.
"All I know, right now, is that we need everybody at their competitive best," Carlisle said. "This isn't about one guy who did or didn't play. This is about everybody pulling in the same direction for the organization. That's what it's all about. We just have to go home and we have to take care of business."
After the game, Nowitzki stressed the Mavericks need to find a way to finish games better in order to take the next two games being played in Dallas.
"We got to be a little more solid there in the fourth quarter. Both games we were right there where we wanted to be in certain spots of the game," Nowitzki said. "For some reason, all year long, they've finished better than we have. That's why they've won three out of four in the regular season, and that's why their up 2-0 now."
Amare Stoudamire summed up the Mavs' mindset as the series shifts back home for Game 3 and 4 with the goal of digging out of 0-2 hole in the first-round Western Conference series.
"Right now we got hit with a low blow. We got hit with the Mayweather low blow tonight," Stoudamire said. "So we have to find a way to retaliate for Game 3. Obviously, it's not going to be easy as [the Rockets] have great confidence tonight, but we have to find a way to retaliate. At this point, there's no choice if you're all in or not. There's not even a question because we have to know this is the playoffs."
Follow Shawn Ramsey on Twitter: @ShawnPRamsey
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