James Harden scored a playoff career-high 42 points, Dwight Howard had his postseason best with 26 rebounds, and the visiting Houston Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks, 130-128, on Friday night to open a three-games-to-none lead in their first-round playoff series.
Harden played a dominating role after deferring to Howard and role players in the first two victories, putting the Rockets on the verge of their first playoff series win since Howard joined Harden two years ago.
Monta Ellis had a playoff career-high 34 points to match Dirk Nowitzki for Dallas.
But Ellis missed a potential tying jumper just before the buzzer, leaving Dallas to face a fourth straight year without winning a postseason series since taking the franchise’s first championship.