Mavericks check out early, lose to Rockets 136-103 (2nd half recap)

The third quarter... let's just say there was flopping involved. I'll give you three guesses as to who was getting the calls, and the first two don't count. Here's a hint. His beard is WAY gross and not at all awesome. Both Collison and Mayo racked up the fouls, with Mayo heading to the bench charged with four. Fouls turned into a serious problem as the Rockets extended the lead to 18 less than halfway through the quarter. The flow, which was so nice and fun to watch in the first half, was completely destroyed by chippy fouls by both teams.

Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin were having a field day on offense. Dallas could find no way to stop them. Absolutely none. Like, I was sitting in my little press seat, palms up, Timmy D-style. The lead ballooned... and ballooned... to the point where the game was damn near unwatchable. Dirk's shot was off, Mayo picked up his fifth foul, Rodrigue Beaubois entered the game for no reason, and the Mavericks found themselves down by 30 at the end of the third.

The three-guard lineup started off the final period with Collison, Beaubois and Mayo. It didn't work. Crowder took a chance and tried to drive to the basket, and of course was rewarded with free throws. We were rewarded with Crowder missing those free throws. And then Elton Brand found himself at the charity stripe, and missed HIS two free throws. With eight minutes left to play, Rick Carlisle threw in the proverbial towel and pulled Dirk (who went 2 of 8). Bernard James entered in his stead, along with Jones, Wright, Crowder and Beaubois. Wave that white flag, Mavericks. Wave it proudly.

There wasn't much to say for the second half of the final quarter, honestly. It was probably worse in person than what any of you were watching on the television. I envy you all, and bid you goodnight.

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