HOUSTON (AP) — Raymond Felton scored 23 points, Charlie Villanueva added 19 and the short-handed Dallas Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets 110-98 on Saturday night.
Dallas played without a trio of starters — Dirk Nowitzki, Wesley Matthews and Chandler Parsons — but it didn't matter as they took advantage of the slumping Rockets.
Emotions ran high and plenty of hard fouls were shared between the in-state rivals. They met in the first round of the playoffs in April, where Houston won 4-1.
Elevated by Houston's poor defense and their own hot shooting, the Mavericks scored a season-high 57 first-half points.
James Harden led Houston with 25 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, and Terrence Jones had 23 points. The Rockets fell to 1-3 this season in games played without center Dwight Howard, who rested on Saturday night.