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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
DALLAS (AP) -- Steve Francis and the Houston Rockets got the
message.
|  | | Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points, but Houston's Cuttino Mobley posted 24 in the Rockets' victory Saturday. |
Two days after a team meeting, Francis had 22 points, 11
rebounds and eight assists as the Rockets snapped a six-game losing
streak with a 114-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.
The Rockets held the meeting to talk about helping each other on
defense and playing unselfishly.
"That meeting sparked this victory for us," Francis said.
"Guys weren't worrying about scoring points, we were worrying
about winning. We had a lot better defensive help."
Cuttino Mobley had 24 points, Shandon Anderson added 15, and
Kenny Thomas had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets, who
beat the Mavericks for the 16th time in their last 18 matchups.
"They're hard for us to play against," Mavericks coach Don
Nelson said. "We couldn't shoot the ball and we got in a hole and
we got beat. It's really that simple."
Michael Finley scored 32 points, Steve Nash added a career-high
26 and Dirk Nowitzki had 20 for the Mavericks, who had won six of
seven.
Houston opened the third quarter with a 16-7 run to take a 69-38
lead, its biggest of the game, before the Mavericks rallied.
"We just came out and played hard," Rockets guard Moochie
Norris said. "We haven't been putting full games together, so that
was our focus. We felt we weren't being aggressive enough on
defense."
Finley scored 11 and Nowitzki had eight as Dallas finished the
third quarter with a 23-7 spurt to reduce Houston's advantage to
76-61 entering the final quarter.
The Mavericks got as close as 93-88 with 3:16 to go on Finley's
3-pointer.
But Anderson scored five consecutive points for Houston,
starting with a layup as the Rockets beat the Mavericks' press.
Behind Anderson, the Rockets pushed their lead back to 98-90,
closing out the Mavericks.
"That always seems to happen," Norris said of the Mavericks'
rally. "The team that's behind always seems to make a run."
Houston rolled to a 53-31 halftime lead by holding Dallas to
9-of-34 field-goal shooting.
The Rockets were 6-of-11 from 3-point range in the first 24
minutes and went 20-for-42 from the field.
"The key word for today's game is defense," Rockets coach Rudy
Tomjanovich said. "We've been struggling in that area and to hold
a very potent offensive team under 40 percent (37.8 percent) on
their court when they've been playing great and they are one of the
hottest teams in the league, it's just a credit to our guys."
Game notes
Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon sat out the fourth quarter
because of a recurring right knee problem. He played 15 minutes,
scoring eight points. ... Dallas had its lowest scoring first half
of the season. ... The Mavericks had their second sellout in eight
days. ... Houston's Kelvin Cato missed the game because of a
sprained ankle, and Dallas forward Loy Vaught was unable to play
because of a bruised knee.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Houston Clubhouse
Dallas Clubhouse
Knee cyst sidelines Olajuwon at least 2 games
RECAPS
Orlando 95
Boston 90
Houston 114
Dallas 99
Seattle 104
Charlotte 102
Miami 110
Detroit 102
San Antonio 89
Indiana 77
New York 88
Minnesota 79
Philadelphia 107
Sacramento 104
Phoenix 109
Toronto 103
Denver 120
Milwaukee 113
Golden State 102
Vancouver 101
LA Lakers 116
LA Clippers 114
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Rudy Tomjanovich Official Site
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