Mavs' Terry drops Rockets from undefeated

Jason Terry scored 31 points off the bench and keyed a pair of second-half rallies, sparking the Dallas Mavericks to a 107-98 victory over the visiting Rockets on Monday night in a Southwest Division collision.

 "Jet is really playing some good basketball for us," said Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson after watching Terry connect on 11-of-17 field goals, including two 3-pointers. "He just had that look in his eye and his shot really looked good. He just gave us a huge spark."

   Josh Howard netted 21 points, reigning league MVP Dirk Nowitzki chipped in with 19 points and Jerry Stackhouse finished with 16 for the Mavericks (3-1), who made 27-of-28 free throws.

 "We were able to play our game tonight," Howard said. "Houston had two All-Stars and those guys are going to get baskets, but we had to concern ourselves with our game."

   Tracy McGrady tallied 35 points on an icy 12-of-31 field goal shooting, while China's Yao Ming collected 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, who suffered their first loss of the season after opening 3-0 under new coach Rick Adelman.

 The Rockets were looking at this early season Western Conference heavyweight match-up as a measuring stick to gauge their progress, but fell short against their Texas rivals, courtesy of Terry.

 "It's all about growing and learning from these mistakes," said McGrady, who earlier in the day was named the Western Conference Player of the Week. "We're a team that's only been together for a month or two, so we're still growing and tonight was definitely a learning experience."

   With neither team able to go up by more than six points, the Rockets held a slim 51-50 edge at halftime. They led 70-65 with just under two minutes left in the third quarter before Terry caught fire, scoring the final seven points, including a three-pointer, giving the Mavericks a 77-75 edge.

 "We wanted to close out the quarter strong, because they had made a little run on us," Terry said. "Our objective was to get back at them quickly and that's what happened. We got a couple of turnovers, a couple of rebounds and we converted on the other end."

   The speedy guard hit another three-pointer 30 seconds into the final frame as the gap widened to 80-75.

 "You just can't turn your head when you're guarding Terry," Adelman said. "You can't lose sight of him, because they're going to find him."

   The lead see-sawed back and forth with the Rockets holding an 88-86 edge following a three-point play by McGrady with six minutes remaining. But Howard countered with a three-point play and added two free throws, putting the Mavericks ahead for good, 91-88.

 The Rockets drew to within one, after McGrady spotted Argentine rookie Luis Scola for a layup. However, that's as close as they would come as Terry fueled a decisive 14-4 run.

 After Terry opened with two free throws, Stackhouse buried a three-pointer and fed Desagna Diop (10 points and 13 rebounds) for a dunk. Nowitzki took consecutive passes from Terry to bounce in a three-pointer and drain a 15-footer. Terry sealed the victory with two more free throws, making it 105-94 with 1:56 left.

 "We're one up on them now, but we can't get too excited, because we have to go down there (Houston) at the end of the month," Terry said. "They're a good team and a team to be reckoned with in this division."

DPA