The Mavs are in Houston tonight, trying to get their first divisional win of the season.  7-3 in their last 10 games, the Mavericks have officially turned things around since their early season struggles and have battled back to .500.  Tonight they take on reigning MVP, James Harden, and a Rockets team that is last in the Southwest Division.

Matchup Summary:

	Dallas Mavericks	Houston Rockets
Record	9-9	9-10
Position	T-8th in West	T-11th in West
PPG	110.1	108.2
Points Allowed	108.6	109.3
FG %	46.2%	44.3%
3p %	35.7%	34.1%
FT %	74.8%	74.9%
RPG	44.6	40.8
APG	22.7	20.4
TO	16.1	13.9

Projected Starting Lineups:

	Dallas Mavericks	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK
PG	Dennis Smith, Jr	14.1	2.7	3.9	1.1	0.4
SG	Wesley Matthews	16.1	2.6	2.3	0.9	0.2
SF	Luka Doncic	19.1	6.6	4.3	0.9	0.2
PF	Harrison Barnes	17.1	4.6	1.3	0.9	0.2
C	DeAndre Jordan	11.4	13.6	2.4	0.7	1
	Houston Rockets	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK
PG	James Harden	31.5	5.3	8.2	2.3	0.6
SG	Eric Gordon	16.1	2.6	1.9	0.6	0.4
SF	James Ennis	8.3	2.4	0.7	1.1	0.4
PF	PJ Tucker	8.2	6.2	1.2	1.3	0.5
C	Clint Capela	17.3	12	1.7	0.5	2.1

Injury Report:

Player	Team	Description
Luka Doncic	Dallas Mavericks	Questionable (Illness)
Dirk Nowitzki	Dallas Mavericks	Out (Foot)
Dwight Powell	Dallas Mavericks	Questionable (Left knee)
Dennis Smith Jr	Dallas Mavericks	Questionable (Wrist)
Gerald Green	Houston Rockets	Questionable (Ankle)
Nene Hilario	Houston Rockets	Out (Calf Strain)
Brandon Knight	Houston Rockets	Out (Knee)
Chris Paul	Houston Rockets	Questionable (Hamstring)
Zhou Qi	Houston Rockets	Out (Ankle)

It looked like the Rockets had their season on the right track when they rattled off 5 straight wins, a run that included wins over the Pacers, Nuggets, and Warriors.  They immediately gave up all that momentum by losing 3 straight, including bad losses to the Cavs and Wizards.  Both of those two losses were without Chris Paul, a position the Rockets may find themselves in again tonight.

James Harden is still playing at an MVP level, first in the league in points per game (31.5), fourth in the league in assists per game (8.2), and third in the league in steals per game (2.3).  Even with his impressive stats, the Rockets have not been able to replicate their dominance from last season when they had last season when they went 65-17, the best record in the league.  Last season the Rockets were not only great on offense (1st in offensive rating) but they were great on defense to (6th in defensive rating).  This season they are still pretty good on offense with Harden running the show, but their defense has fallen off a cliff, landing them at 26th in defensive rating.

As fans, we always like to come up with player comparisons for young prospects to try to project how a player will perform over their career.  Of course Luka was no exception to this exercise.  I have heard and read a lot of them, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Pete Maravich, Steve Nash, but really the best player comp might be James Harden.  I know it may seem cheap to compare him to the reigning MVP but I think it really fits.  They both can shoot, pass, and dribble at an elite level and have the same signature move (step back 3).  Now if only Luka could get the same calls as Harden we would be all set.  Luka has been getting pounded over his first 18 but luckily has yet to miss a single game.  I hate to say it, but in order to protect himself and get to the line more, we may need Luka to take a page out of Harden’s book and learn a little bit about offensive flopping.

The Mavericks are looking like a playoff team, with Luka’s starpower and the bench’s dominance if they keep playing like they have in November they will certainly find themselves in the top 8 of the West by season’s end.  The Mavs are in a tough stretch of games, their next 5 after this are @Lakers, Clippers, Blazers, @Pelicans, Rockets.  Every win is big, it looks like the West will be a very tight race just like it was last year when the 3rd and 9th place team were separated by only 3 games.  Here’s to another Mavericks win, cheers!

And for those of you who have not heard this yet, you’re welcome…