![]() What was that about the regular-season series? Oh, right, Houston sandwiched 95-92 and 99-94 victories around the Rondo trade, and Dallas won the third meeting on the strength of productive reserves Al-Farouq Aminu (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Harris (17 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds). It’s just businesses, and it’s just kind of dirty.” In downtown Houston, there’s not much to do. And then it really got fun once Cuban signed Parsons away from the Rockets for $46 million over three years. Or at least 2013, when Cuban ripped Howard’s choice of Houston over Dallas as “ a mistake in judgment.” Morey returned the favor, asking about Nowitzki’s availability to the Mavs owner’s dismay. There is the matter of the Rockets’ 3-1 regular-season series win to attend to, but let’s start from the beginning. But all will be forgotten should the Mavericks show up to this series dressed for success. Surely, it was a risk to incorporate a ball-dominant point guard at midseason when the player in question comes with wrinkles that require months of ironing out with coaches and teammates before looking suitable enough for a postseason dance. The departures of versatile forward Jae Crowder along with the pick-and-roll combo of Jameer Nelson and Brandan Wright transformed a unit that outscored its opponents by 8.0 points per 100 possessions into a zero-sum operation. Cuban gambled that a change of scenery would reinvigorate the four-time former All-Star, but the trade depleted a bench that at the time trailed only the Toronto Raptors in net rating. While the Mavs have been marginally better defensively with Rondo, their 1.04 points allowed per possession still ranks in the lower half of the league. ![]() Since then, their 1.04 points per possession drops them to 13th, and they’re 31-24 (.564 win percentage), including a sub-.500 stretch (20-21) from Jan. ![]() 19 trade, they owned the league’s best offensive rating by a significant margin (113.6 points per 100 possessions) and had won 70 percent of their games (19-8). Rondo’s arrival forged a divide in this Mavericks campaign. Which Rajon Rondo will show up? (Getty Images) As that dynamic playmaking troika trickled in, Tyson Chandler, Jose Barea and Devin Harris found their way back to Dallas elder statesmen Richard Jefferson, Charlie Villanueva and Amar’e Stoudemire joined the fray and coach Rick Carlisle found a 50-win formula for the first time since the championship season. completed a massive overhaul around living legend Dirk Nowitzki by signing Monta Ellis in 2013-14, looting Chandler Parsons from Houston this past summer and trading for Rajon Rondo in December.
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