Tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN the Western Conference playoffs roll on with the Houston Rockets going for a 2-0 series lead vs. the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of their opening round series. Watch the game on TNT or live stream it free by clicking this link. Rockets fans can hear the radio broadcast on Sports Talk 790, while Mavs fans can tune in to 103.3 ESPN.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban recently derided the Rockets as a team that's "not very good," and overly reliant on shooting guard James Harden's production. Cuban went as far as calling Harden the rightful MVP of the 2014-15 season.
The Rockets' supporting cast rose up in Game 1 though, with six Houston players scoring in double figures. "That's means everybody's touching the basketball, everybody's getting involved and they can't only just stop one person," Harden said.
"They put two (defenders) on the ball, me I make the pocket pass, I made the easy play and had confidence in my teammates to make the next one."
Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki acknowledged the production of Houston's secondary players and hinted that adjustments might need to be made to their focus on stopping Harden, who handed out 11 assists in the win.
"You've got to give the other guys credit," Nowitzki said. "Obviously, we were paying a lot of attention to James, but they made some plays off the pick-and-rolls. It's just too easy."
Reserve Rockets forward Corey Brewer made it clear that the rest of the team is aware of the perception of Harden and Dwight Howard's importance to the offense, but also proved the secondary players fully understand their roles.
"That's what we were brought here for, to help James and Dwight out," Brewer said. "So if we're wide open we've got to make shots and we've got to help those guys."
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