The Mavericks were desperate for a win to make the series 2-1. The first two games came in Houston's favor, before the game ahead in the series 2-0. The first game it was James Harden who came up big with 24 points and 11 assists and Houston ended up winning 118-108. The second game of the series it was center Dwight Howard that helped them get to the win with 28 points and 12 rebounds and Houston ended up winning that one 111-99. Now the third game was a different story and it was definitely fun to watch.
The first quarter was very high scoring for both teams. It all started with the Houston Rockets offense. James Harden like always played a big role in this game. Two faces on the Mavericks that would have to help out the team if they wanted to get to a win would have to be Monta Ellis and Tyson Chandler. Monta Ellis because of his scoring ability and Tyson Chandler because of his height and rebounding ability and also the help that he could be on defense. Monta Ellis in the last two games had scored 20 or more so a lot would be depending on him.
The game started off with both teams scoring a pretty even amount of points. The quarter ended with James Harden having 12 points already and Monta Ellis also dropped 12. The Rockets closed in the quarter with some good ball movement, and finally getting the ball to Josh Smith for a three with 2.9 seconds left and that was it for the first quarter with the score already 42-36. In the second quarter it was J.J Barea who pulled the Mavericks closer in to the deficit. He played a very solid all around game. All of a sudden, the Mavericks went on a 23-7 run now taking the lead 59-49. That was the turning point in the game that brought momentum in the Mavericks and their home crowd. But Harden was keeping his Houston Rockets in this game whether it was scoring the ball or dishing it out. He brought the deficit to just seven as the half ended. The score was 72-65.
The second half was all James Harden. In the first six minutes of the second half, Harden was already 4-4 on shooting. The Rockets kept their fine play going into the fourth quarter where it seemed as if there was no hope at all. With 2:40 left to go, the Mavericks were down 124-116. Then it was Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki who helped them creep back into the game. First, Nowitzki made a shot from downtown to cut the lead to 5. Then Monta Ellis made a jump shot to cut the lead to three. The Mavericks kept going and suddenly, the lead was down to one! But again, James Harden made a very clutch play driving to the hoop and getting the layup. A couple of plays later the Mavericks were down 130-128 with 7 seconds left to go. Monta Ellis got the ball. He took a couple of dribbles, fired up a shot, but missed.Game Over. 130-128. The series 3-0.
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