Rockets on the defensive with short-handed Mavs up next

Mired in their fourth three-game skid this season, the Houston Rockets have suddenly lost the same defensive identity that yielded their unexpectedly positive start to this campaign.

The Rockets had their 11-game homecourt winning streak snapped on Wednesday with a 134-127 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Houston, which will host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, allowed the Hawks to shoot 51.6 percent from the floor and make 17 3-pointers, including 13 of 26 from behind the arc in the first half.

During the skid, the Rockets — who still ranked sixth in the NBA in defensive rating at 110.4 entering Thursday — are allowing 131.1 points per 100 possessions. Only the Charlotte Hornets have been worse defensively during that stretch, making the Rockets' objective against Dallas crystal clear.

"We've got to continue to guard the way we have this year, and the last three games we haven't done that at all," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said.

Of equal concern for Houston is a sudden inability to control the defensive glass. The Rockets' 60.5 percent defensive rebounding rate during their three-game skid ranks dead last in the league.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers hurt Houston with their effectiveness in corralling offensive rebounds, and while the Hawks converted 12 offensive boards into a modest 15 second-chance points, the timing of some of those baskets proved especially debilitating.

"That was a point of emphasis coming in," Udoka said. "You've got to do your job and meet the physicality they're playing with but also gang rebound as a team. There are too many possessions where we're either getting pushed under or wedged under or guys are standing around watching and not helping their teammates.

"That's really come to bite us the last three games, especially when it hurt us earlier in the year and we corrected that. Those last three games have hurt us in that area."

With their 120-111 setback to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, the Mavericks suffered their third loss in four games. Injury attrition has left the Mavericks vulnerable, both in the backcourt and frontcourt, as guard Kyrie Irving (heel) missed his sixth consecutive game while Dallas was also without centers Maxi Kleber (toe) and Dereck Lively II (ankle).

Still, despite their short-handed rotation, the Mavericks rallied from a 22-point, first-half deficit and led in the fourth quarter before succumbing down the stretch.

Dallas' pivot to a small-ball lineup featuring slender 6-foot-5 forward Derrick Jones Jr and sturdy 6-6 forward Grant Williams sharing time at center played a critical role in helping the Mavericks' rally.

That success might have laid the groundwork for Dallas to keep tinkering with smaller lineups.

"We haven't done it a lot; small sample size," Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said.

"With the small-ball (lineup), we made them match up to us. and so that's a small victory getting a group to be able to change the game where they took out their bigs to match to us. Our next step is being able to play a little bit more with small-ball (lineups) and see if we can be effective."

—Field Level Media