Following an appearance in the Western Conference Finals to finish last season, the Houston Rockets are not having much success to start the year and last Saturday absorbed their third consecutive defeat to the Dallas Mavericks, 110–98.
Before the loss against Dallas, Houston already suffered defeats against the Brooklyn Nets (106–98) and the Denver Nuggets (107–98).
Lineup-wise, the Rockets already had the advantage entering the game, since the Mavericks played without franchise star Dirk Nowitzki, along with scorers Wesley Matthews and Chandler Parsons.
Leading Houston in the tough setback was star guard James Harden who tallied a double-double 25 points, 10 assists, with seven rebounds, two steals, and one block.
Another Rocket who stepped up in the defeat was forward Terrence Jones who had 23 points, six rebounds, one assist, one steal, and three blocks.
Former Mavericks point guard Jason Terry added 19 points to help the Rockets in a losing effort.
Rockets head coach Kevin McHale is not happy with their current status. Following the loss, McHale said, according to the Associated Press, "This is as bad as it can get, I hope. I can't imagine it getting much worse than that."
The third straight loss dropped the Rockets to the 10th place in the Western Conference with a 4–6 record.
They will be continuing a two-game home stand when they play against the Boston Celtics today, Monday, and the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, before hitting the road against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks were led by veteran playmaker Raymond Felton who had 23 points, six rebounds, and one assist.
Another veteran also shone in Charlie Villanueva who had 19 points, while point guard Devin Harris and forward Dwight Powell also lit it up from the bench, contributing 15 and 13 points, respectively.
The Mavs improved to 6-4 and are now sitting on the fourth spot in the West, having the same record with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers.
