HOUSTON ROCKETS (1-2) at MAVERICKS (1-1)
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: American Airlines Center, Dallas.
TV: Bally Sports Southwest.
Radio: The Eagle 97.1 FM; Zona MX 99.1 FM (Spanish)
About the Rockets: They have bid goodbye to whatever championship window they thought they had with James Harden, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, John Wall and Clint Capela over the past half-dozen years. It’s a new-look team now under second-year coach (and former Mavericks’ assistant) Stephen Silas. And one that has hope in the name of Jalen Green. The rookie guard was the second overall pick in this year’s draft and after a couple of lukewarm games, he got going with 30 points in Sunday’s 10-point loss to the Boston Celtics in Houston. In that game, he hit 8-of-10 3-pointers, falling one triple shy of the NBA rookie record for 3-pointers in a game (shared by former Mavericks Yogi Ferrell and Roddy Beaubois) . . . The Rockets have another budding star in center Christian Wood, who has averaged 22.3 points and 10.7 rebounds through three games, hitting half of his 16 3-pointers . . . The Rockets are one of the youngest teams in the league, having already played six people who are 21 years or younger . . . This is the start of a rough stretch for the Rockets, with six of their next seven games on the road and all seven against quality opponents. After the Mavericks, they go home to play Utah, the hit the road for two at the Lakers, followed by the Suns, Nuggets and Warriors.
About the Mavericks: It’s their home opener after splitting two road games to start the season. Home openers have not been kind of late. They have lost four of their last six home openers, including last year to Charlotte . . . This is the fourth time the Mavericks have had a home-opener against the Rockets. Houston has won all three previous meetings . . . Through two games, Luka Dončić was one assist away from averaging a triple-double. His next triple-double in a game will be the 37th of his career. He’s eight away from passing Fat Lever for 10th-most in NBA history . . . Tim Hardaway Jr. is coming off a 25-point game at Toronto when he hit 7-of-11 3-pointers . . . Anybody who was worried that the Mavericks wouldn’t be hoisting as many 3-pointers this season should know that they have averaged 42.5 triples in the first two games, fourth most in the league. Unfortunately, their 31.5-percent success rate is 25th in the league . . . Their overall shooting of 37.5 percent is dead-last in the NBA, but one hot night would fix that small sample size . . . This is the first of four meetings this season with the Rockets. The Mavericks have not won a season series against their Interstate 45 rivals since 2012-13.
Twitter: @ESefko
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