Christian Wood led Houston with 20 points, and Jae'Sean Tate and Garrison Mathews both had 15. Jalen Green had 12 points, and Kevin Porter Jr. added 11 points. The Mavericks got off to a hot start, scoring a season-high 43 first-quarter points to enter the second quarter with a 20-point lead. Dallas also had a season-high 80 first-half points and led 80-60 at the break. After a 114-111 win in Washington snapped Houston's eight-game losing streak, the Rockets struggled defensively, allowing Dallas to shoot 54.4% from the field. ''They were picking us apart,'' Mathews said. ''That's got to be where we're playing the hardest is on the defensive end. We're a young team. They scored, what, 80 points in the first half? That's inexcusable. We need to play a lot better.'' Rockets coach Stephen Silas said he thought energy was a factor in the Rockets' defensive struggles. ''Quite a bit,'' Silas said. ''We were a step slow, a step late on everything.'' Dallas fell just shy of its season high of 19 3s, making 17 3-pointers on 38 attempts (44.7%). Hardaway and Bullock both hit five 3s in less than 25 minutes of playing time.