Basketball season is back, even if it is preseason, and the revamped Dallas Mavericks showcased their new acquisitions against a familiar foe in the Houston Rockets.
The major headline for the Dallas Mavericks entering this contest is that they were without their 12-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki who was dealing with a minor right hip contusion. For the Rockets, veteran Jason Terry didn't make the trip as he dealt with a minor hamstring issue of his own.
With both teams displaying new roster looks from top to bottom this was certainly a high scoring contest that came down to the wire with the Mavericks coming up just short in a 111-108 loss to the Rockets.
Mavs second-year point guard Gal Mekel tied the game at 108-all on a three-pointer from the top of the key with 6.4 seconds remaining. Rockets forward Kosta Papanikolaou would then be fouled on a three-point attempt by Mavs forward Jae Crowder and made all three costless throw attemptes to seal the victory.
The call at the end of the game was a bit questionable to say the least but it fell in line with the way the refs called the game the entire night. There was a total of 81 fouls called in this contest as there was a lot of touch fouls that were called. Something to pay attention to throughout the preseason as the league wants the refs to pay attention to player contact more closely.
Making his debut in front of the Dallas fans and matching up against his former team, Chandler Parsons led the Mavericks with 14 points on 3-of-7 shooting. Monta Ellis and Charlie Villanueva each had 13 points in carrying the Mavs potent scoing offense.
Al Farouq-Aminu, who started in place of Dirk Nowitzki, may have been the most pleasant surprise for the Mavs. Aminu was brought in to help fill Shawn Marion's shoes and he did just that grabbing 11 boards to go along with 2 steals and 1 block. He was very active on the defensive end and will be an important player for the Mavs going forward.
Charlie Villanueva also stood in scoring all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter as he makes the case for a final roster spot. He certainly made an impressive debut shooting 3-of-6 from beyond the three-point line and could provide the Mavs with a backup stretch 4 they've been looking for.
Donatas Motiejunas led the Rockets with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and Harden added 17 points on 4-of-9 from the field. The Rockets' 46.2 percent shooting also bettered the Mavss 40.6 percent as both teams totaled 40 rebounds.
This was just the first matchup between these two Texas state rivals in which should be one of the most interesting rivalries in the NBA this season.
The Mavericks will next host the Oklahoma City Thunder Friday, October 10, at 7:30 PM CST. Meanwhile the Houston Rockets will host the Memphis Grizzles Thursday, October 9, at 7:30 PM CST.