Mavs-Rockets preview

Game #4
Houston Rockets (3-0) at Dallas Mavericks (2-1)
American Airlines Center • 7:30 pm (CT)
NBATV • ESPN 103.3 FM • KFLC 1270 AM (Spanish)

PROBABLE STARTERS
DALLAS
F Dirk Nowitzki (7-0, 245)
F Josh Howard (6-7, 210)
C Gana Diop (7-0, 280)
G Eddie Jones (6-6, 200)
G Devin Harris (6-3, 185)

HOUSTON
F Shane Battier (6-8, 220)
F Chuck Hayes (6-6, 238)
C Yao Ming (7-6, 310)
G Tracy McGrady (6-8, 233)
G Rafer Alston (6-2, 175)

INJURY REPORT
Dallas: Erick Dampier (right shoulder surgery) and Devean George (left foot stress reaction) are out. Harris (left thigh contusion) is day-to-day.
Houston: None listed.

Last game: 123-102 win over Sacramento
Next game: at Golden State, Thursday, 9:30 pm (TNT)
All-time series: Rockets lead 73-59

Connections: Dallas assistant Mario Elie won two titles with Houston (1994 & ’95) … Mavs forward Juwan Howard played for the Rockets the last three seasons … Mavs rookie Nick Fazekas and Houston guard Kirk Snyder were teammates for one season at Nevada … Jones and Battier were teammates in Memphis … Mavs coach Avery Johnson played for the Rockets and makes his offseason home in The Woodlands.

Scouting the Rockets: Off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 1996-97 … McGrady has games of 47 points (Utah) and 30 (Lakers) this season … Erased first-quarter deficits of 11 points at the Lakers and 12 at Utah. Largest comeback win last season was 12 on three occasions … Yao is averaging 19 ppg and 10.3 rpg.

Observations: These I-45 rivals know each other well, having played 132 times in the regular season. Houston leads the series 73-59 … Dallas holds a 10-2 edge in games at American Airlines Center … Perhaps the best game in recent memory was the epic Nowitzki-McGrady duel on Dec. 2, 2004. Nowitzki scored 53 to T-Mac’s 48 in Dallas’ 113-106 overtime win … The Mavs never trailed in their two wins – at Cleveland and Sacramento. Dallas accomplished that feat 12 times last season … Dallas scored 73 first-half points against the Kings. The Mavs’ high last season was 66 points … JJ Barea was forced into action when Dallas lost Harris in the first half at Atlanta. He responded with 14 points (5-6 FGs, 4-4 FTs) in just 9 minutes before recording a career-high 25 points against Sacramento in his second career start … It didn’t take long for Josh Howard to announce his return from a two-game suspension. He registered a team-high 27 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and two blocked shots in 33 minutes against the Kings.