The Dallas Mavericks made several big offseason moves this year. They traded with the New York Knicks to bring back Tyson Chandler and acquire Raymond Felton. They also signed Chandler Parsons to a free agent deal which was considered one of the biggest moves of the offseason. Now, Parsons is preparing to face off against his former team, the Houston Rockets, who did not believe Parsons was worth the money to retain.
Parsons signed a three-year, $46 million deal with the Mavericks in the offseason after being a restricted free agent with the Rockets. Houston was unwilling to meet the contract demands of the forward and let him walk away to Dallas without much thought. Parsons is excelling with Dallas, averaging 14.5 points per game. He is coming off a 21 point effort against the Lakers where Dirk Nowitzki put up 23 points and Monta Ellis had 20. It was the Mavericks sixth-straight win.
The Mavericks are one of the best in the league right now. They lead with 111.3 points per game, but are currently averaging 118.7 points in their win streak. Now they are preparing to face their in-state rivals, the Rockets, in a game that could be foreshadowing to the Western Conference playoffs.
The Rockets are hot and cold this year. They were outscored 38-20 in the paint by the Los Angeles Lakers in a loss while getting outrebounded 14-6 in the wake of Dwight Howard being out. The Rockets are 0-2 when Howard is not on the court and they are uncertain if he will be available in the game against Dallas. The center is averaging 27.7 points on 66.7 percent shooting against Dallas.
James Harden was not enough to get the Rockets past the struggling Lakers. The All-Star had 24 points, but committed six of the team's 17 turnovers which is what did them in. Harden will have to step up once again if Houston is going to beat Dallas.
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