Rapid Reaction: Houston Rockets at Dallas Mavericks

Rockets 111, Mavericks 108.

Newly acquired guard Chandler Parsons makes his Mavs debut against his former team, the Houston Rockets. Some major story-lines from the game:

Chandler Parsons as advertised: This Mavs team has scary offensive potential. Chandler Parsons scored a quick nine points in almost eight minutes of play in the first quarter. He showed his versatility, kicking off his scoring by knocking down a pair of free throws. He followed that with a sweet up and under layup, then knocked down a couple more free throws and finished his first quarter emphatically knocking down a 3-pointer from the corner.

His final stat line was 14 points on 3 of 7 shooting (including 2 for 4 from 3-point range and 6 for 6 from the free throw line).

Tyson Chandler draws huge ovation before the game, starts with draws foul trouble, finishes strong: No player drew a bigger ovation than Tyson Chandler when he was introduced before the game. However, Chandler picked up four quick fouls and was sent to the bench after just six minutes and didn’t see the floor again till the start of the 3^rd quarter.

The time he was in, Chandler proved to be the rim protector Mavs fans were anticipating and also showed off his improved jump-shot to add to his offensive arsenal.

His final stat line was 10 points on 3 of 5 shooting and 4 for 4 from the free throw line. He had a major defensive impact that didn’t show up on the stat sheet.

NBA competing with the NFL in preseason foul calls: The first half consisted of 49 fouls called between the two teams and 81 for the game, an absurdly high number which prolonged the game quite a bit. This situation is worth keeping an eye on going forward to see if the refs keep this up.

Mavs had 36 fouls and the Rockets had 45 fouls.

Interesting lineup combinations: Rick Carlisle showed some interesting lineup combinations. The two that stuck out was the two point guard lineup with Jameer Nelson and Raymond Felton on the floor together in which Nelson seemed to be handling more of the point guard responsibilities. The second was the starting lineup that everybody was expecting: Jameer Nelson at PG, Monta Ellis and Chandler Parsons on the wings, Tyson Chandler at center, and Al-Farouq Aminu at power forward (obviously that spot would be held by Dirk Nowitzki, who was out with a hip contusion tonight).

Point guard situation intriguing: Jameer Nelson started at point guard and played well for the Mavs, but Raymond Felton is showing some promise as well and Devin Harris was the first one off the bench and provided a spark off the bench. With all the production coming from that position, the rotation that Carlisle chooses will be quite interesting.

Charlie Villanueva states his case: Villanueva was dominant late in the game and finished with 13 points on 4 of 8 shooting before fouling out with one minute left in the game. Looks like it will be hard to keep this guy off the roster.

What they’re saying:

Mavs fans can take a sigh of relief; Mark Cuban said before the game that Dirk would have played if it were a regular season game. Cuban also said that this year’s initial roster is very competitive and he’s excited for the season to start.

Rick Carlisle was exceptionally high on Jae Crowder before the game, saying he “slimmed down quite a bit, but hasn’t gotten weaker. Just faster”.