Everything the Mavericks said about their Rockets first round series

Here's what everyone had to say about the first round series against the Rockets

Carlisle, on what the Mavs can take away from their season series against the Rockets: "We'll look at everything. I'm sure they'll look at everything too. It's going to come down to execution. It's going to come down to managing the stakes. The 3-point shot is going to be a big element of the series. Rebounding will be huge. It's a tough series but we're looking forward to it."

Dirk, on what he learned from those four games: "They like to go small, they're extremely quick. They got a lineup out there with Ariza and Smith with a lot of length on the wing, [they] switch a lot. Harden's been incredible all year long, making big plays, making the other guys better, driving, getting to the line, getting the other guys the ball, making big shots. You know, all four games were fun games to be a part of. All of them were pretty close. The one we won here we were up big and made it close in the fourth. The other three were really close games. They won three of them out of the four. They're a really good team and we've got our hands full."

Tyson on the series: "The Rockets are going to be a great challenge, they're a good team. We had a tough schedule against them this year. They've got some great players. I think James Harden is either MVP or runner up. They've got great balance, Trevor Ariza, having Dwight back."

Carlisle, on confidence in team going forward: "I've got great confidence in our team going forward. The fact that the period since the All Star break has been difficult, it's something that helps us. Even though we haven't played our best all the time, we've had quality opponents for 20-something games now since the break. We've had to earn every win and I think it's a situation where that kind of a stretch has to bring you closer together as a team. That's where we are and we'll get ready for Game 1 and we'll go down there with guns blazing."

Dirk, on facing Rockets in playoffs for first time since 2005: "It's more of a rivalry since Cuban and what's-his-face went back and forth a little bit, Morey. When you only play a team once in 10 years you can't really speak of a rivalry. I mean, both teams are in Texas. Both teams want to win in the first round."

Carlisle, on Dwight Howard's impact: "You've got a guy who's a massive difference maker at the rim, both ends of the floor. We know his game, we know his greatness. Two summers ago, we backed up the truck to try to get him here. We've got great respect for him. If Harden's no the MVP, he'll be one of the best years ever had and not being an MVP. He's had that kind of impact on that team and the league this year. Lot of tough things to deal with when we get to this part of the season and going into the playoffs."

Carlisle, on all the storylines: "I don't think you're going to hear Mark [Cuban] say anything during this series. This is not a series about Chandler Parsons going back to Houston. This is a series about the Dallas Mavericks playing the Rockets. That's how we view it."

Dirk on whether he looks at all the storylines: "I don't, but that's what the media talks about. It's a fun little side notes I guess, which players don't really care much about, [we just care] about what team comes out in the end. Obviously they have home court advantage. We'd love to go down and steal one, steal the first one. It's a tough environment. They really spread the floor as well as any team in the league. They shoot a lot of 3s. They got a lot of 3-point shooters. And Harden attacking off the dribble, they're tough to guard down there."

Tyson: "I think it's going to be a good one. You've got two Texas teams going at it. You've got Chandler going against his former team, Trevor Ariza the new addition there, Dwight coming back, James Harden with the year he's having. It has a lot built up. I think it's going to be a good series."

Tyson, on how he just forgot JET in that quote above: "My boy JET. Exactly. His name is on a banner there. JET coming back in this building when they come back has a lot of emotions built into it. Corey Brewer as well."

Carlisle on Harden's foul shooting: "I don't remember all the details from all the games off the top of my head. He may be the best player in history at creating situations where you foul him. He's the best I've ever seen because he creates so much vertical force going to the hoop. He has such a great knack of creating contact. For those reasons, he's very hard to defend. That will be a major challenge in this series."

Carlisle on Parsons going back: "It's not a Parsons series. It's a Mavericks-Rockets series."

Dirk on advice to give Parsons, since he'll be public enemy number one: "He got the first game out of the way, that's the tough one. He played pretty good as far as I remember in the second one. Made a lot of shots, played pretty good. If he's playing, we'll have to see how his knee reacts the next couple of days, but we'd love to have him out there, we'd love to have him healthy and Devin [Harris] back. If we want to win this series we need the full troops."

Tyson, same question: "It's not about him, it's about the team. You can't get caught up in the individual matchups at any time. It has to be about the team. Just stay focused on that and how you can help your team."

Carlisle on all the emotion and storylines: "That's a lot of external noise. We've got to make sure we ignore what's not important. What's important is our group, how tight together we are and how strong our will is. That's going to be the bottom line in this series."

Dirk on what's going through JET's mind: "He's a big game player. He loves challenges. He loves to compete even at 41. He still goes out there and make big shots."

Tyson: "I give JET no advice. He's in a different jersey. Still love him, though."

Chandler Parsons' injured knee

Carlisle: "Parsons is going through a critical period right now through his rehab. He's doing well, he's making progress. The next 48 hours are really key. We need to have him continue trending the right way to make sure we get him involved in this series."

Everything else

Rick Carlisle on the Southwest Division: "It's the toughest division in all of sports. It has been the last few years. I don't see it getting any easier, but the good thing is that it makes you tougher and it makes you better. When you go through tough periods there is never an easy one waiting around the corner. It's always hard, but that's alright -- if it isn't rough, then it isn't right. That's how it is in the Western Conference."

Tyson on the locker room: "There's a lot of guys who came here with the ultimate goal of winning a championship. I know STAT had a couple teams he could have gone to, and we had several conversations before he came here. I told him, 'You'll have a shot here. It's a great locker room. Great organization. They're going to hold guys accountable and keep guys locked in.' I thought Rondo's been playing incredible of late, Monta played great tonight, RJ has done a great job stepping in tonight. You never want to see a guy go down, hopefully Chandler is healthy and ready for the playoffs, but during that time Farouq was able to play a lot of minutes and so was RJ which is really going to help us along."

Carlisle on getting 50 wins: "We feel as though it is significant. We wanted to do it and 50 sounds better than 49. Really, year in and year out it sounds better, and it is. Not only because it's a higher number, it's a different set of 10, but it brings you above 60-percent winning percentage, which is pretty significant. But that is done. Now it's 0-0 for everybody and the first team to 16 wins. We have been watching this thing very closely. We have a lot of information on a lot of people, but it's going to be Houston and they are a great team that has had a great year. They have two of the greatest players in the game with Howard and Harden. They have a terrific supporting cast and they are well coached. We are going to have to play our butts off to beat them."

Dirk on 50: "That's always a nice accomplishment in a tough Western Conference with a lot of good teams. I thought overall it was a decent season. There was a little bit too much up and down, we had some injury problems we had to deal with. Overall, 50 wins is not bad at all in the Western Conference and now we're looking ahead to the playoffs."