Finney-Smith’s E.F. Hutton-type speech tops takeaways from win over Rockets

The brooms were out in full force Wednesday night after the Dallas Mavericks swept the Houston Rockets off the American Airlines Center floor, winning 110-91 in impressive fashion.

The Mavs wound up sweeping the season series from the Rockets, 4-0, for the first time since the 2011-12 season when Jason Kidd was still playing for Dallas.

“It’s hard to beat a team four times,” said Kidd, who is in his first season as the Mavs’ coach.

The win, coupled with the Boston Celtics’ 125-97 victory over Utah, puts the Mavs and Jazz in a tie for the Western Conference’s No. 4 seed with identical 45-28 records and the all-important homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Wednesday’s win — thanks in part to a passionate halftime speech by forward Dorian Finney-Smith — also shines a bright light on the exceptional job performed by newcomer Spencer Dinwiddie, who is averaging 20.1 points and shooting 50.3 percent from the field in his last 13 games.

“I just think he wants to win,” guard Jalen Brunson said, referring to Dinwiddie. “He just wants to come in and contribute and help the team win, and we respect that and we want that.

“He’s doing it and he’s doing it in a lot of ways, and we’re happy to have him.”

Here are our five takeaways from the 19-point win over the Rockets.

FINNEY-SMITH SPOKE UP: At halftime, Dorian Finney-Smith didn’t like the body language of the Mavs. He didn’t like the way the Mavs – who have some pretty lofty goals – were allowing the NBA Lottery-bound Rockets to hang around and think they seriously had a chance of winning this game. So, Finney-Smith spoke up. And to borrow a line from the old E.F. Hutton commercial: When Finney-Smith talks, people listen. So, after Finney-Smith got through talking and providing that veteran leadership, the Mavs roared out of the dressing room and turned a 53-52 halftime deficit into an 82-72 lead entering the fourth quarter. From there, garbage time was just a few minutes away as the Mavs led by as many as 26 points in the fourth quarter.

BLOW OUT THE CANDLES: Surely, the Mavs weren’t going to lose this game on a day when coach Jason Kidd was celebrating his 49^th birthday. One year away from receiving his AARP card and all the accompanying discounts, Kidd didn’t discount the talents the young Rockets bring to the table. And he wasn’t about to have any premature celebrations, particularly since the Mavs recently lost consecutive games to NBA bottom-feeders Orlando and Oklahoma City. I get it that it’s hard getting fired up about playing certain teams when you look at their won-loss record. But at the end of the day, a win over Brooklyn, Miami and Boston counts the same as a win over Houston, Orlando and OKC.

DINWIDDIE KICK-STARTED THINGS: Luka Doncic leads the NBA in first-quarter scoring. So, with Doncic sitting out Wednesday’s game with soreness in his right ankle, someone had to step up and take care of that first-quarter scoring load. That someone turned out to be Spencer Dinwiddie. Not only did Dinwiddie score 11 of his 26 points in the first quarter. But he did it by converting all three of his field goal attempts, including both of his three-point tries. Dinwiddie, in fact, already had 19 points in the books before the game reached the midway point of the second quarter as he continued to assert himself as a viable offensive threat who will prevent defenses from hounding Luka Doncic.

BRUNSON/BULLOCK LED THE WAY: With the Mavs in need of a spark on the offensive end of the floor, they got it from Jalen Brunson. And with the Mavs in need of a spark on the defensive end of the floor, they got it from Reggie Bullock. Brunson tallied 16 of the 30 points the Mavs scored in the third quarter when their offense reached another level. The four-year veteran wound up scoring a game-high 28 points. It’s the 18^th 20-point game this season for Brunson, who combined to produce just 17 of those during his first three seasons. Bullock, meanwhile, was the defensive enforcer who held Rockets rookie sensation Jalen Green to just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting.

NO DONCIC, NO PROBLEM: There are certain games when the Mavs can prove they can play without superstar point guard Luka Doncic and still walk away with a win. Wednesday was one of those games. No disrespect to the Rockets, but they have the NBA’s worst record. So, if you’re the Mavs and you’re in the hunt for the No. 4 playoff seed – or the No. 3 slot – you should beat the Rockets without your best player. Yes, Houston jumped out to a 13-7 lead as the Mavs were adjusting to playing without Doncic. But when the Mavs finally looked up and asked themselves, ‘What are we doing here?, they started to handle their business and do what needed to be done.

Twitter: @DwainPrice