George Keys Mavs to Win Over Rockets

DALLAS (AP) _ When Tracy McGrady scored 21 points in the first quarter, Devean George started thinking about the 81-point game Kobe Bryant had last season. Back then, Bryant was George's teammate,

Wednesday, January 17th 2007, 6:24 am

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ When Tracy McGrady scored 21 points in the first quarter, Devean George started thinking about the 81-point game Kobe Bryant had last season. Back then, Bryant was George's teammate, so he was able to enjoy the show. This time, McGrady was on the other side _ so George did something about it.

His defense helped the Dallas Mavericks ``hold'' McGrady to a season-high 45 points and his offense helped spark a 109-96 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.

McGrady shot 9-for-11 in the first quarter, a performance George called ``Kobe-like.'' Then the Mavericks began mixing up his defenders and sending different guys at him on double teams.

``He's Tracy McGrady, he's going to get his points,'' George said. ``But we made him work for it.''

McGrady put the Rockets ahead 65-52 with a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter, but he couldn't keep it up. Dallas pestered him into missing three straight 3s while George made two straight to spark a 15-2 run that tied it.

Soon after, Dirk Nowitzki led a 20-4 spurt and the Mavericks were cruising to the victory _ their fifth straight and 18th in 19 games. Houston had won four straight and nine of 10.

``Fortunately, we just had a little more energy in the second half,'' Dallas coach Avery Johnson said.

In other games Tuesday night, New Orleans beat Orlando 84-78 in overtime; and Seattle topped Cleveland 101-96.

McGrady set his season high and challenged the 47 points he scored in an overtime loss in Dallas two years ago. He went to the bench with 2:14 left and to the locker room after that because of a stiff back that he insisted was ``nothing major.''

``It's pretty frustrating to lose when you play well like that,'' McGrady said. ``They're a great team, we knew that. That's why I attacked early. But it wasn't enough. We still have a ways to go before we catch up to this team.''

The Mavericks countered McGrady's solo act with several big efforts _ 30 points, 10 rebounds and six assists from Nowitzki, and 28 points from Josh Howard.

Nowitzki, who was named the conference player of the week earlier in the day, cracked 30 points for the sixth time in nine games.

McGrady scored Houston's first 12 points and 16 of 18. Problem was, his surge prevented any of his teammates from getting into a groove. No other Rockets player had more than a single basket until there was 1:51 left until halftime.

``When he is rolling like that, you tend to get him the ball,'' teammate Shane Battier said. ``The tendency is to sit and watch T-Mac go. But they forced him to pass the ball and we didn't make them pay for that.''

Houston's game plan was for McGrady to take a lot of early shots, and he certainly followed orders. He had 10 points before even passing the ball. Mutombo may have been surprised to get it because he traveled. The game was nearly five minutes old when someone else scored for Houston.

McGrady finished with 17 baskets, the same number as the rest of his teammates combined. However, his came on 29 attempts; theirs on 46.

Juwan Howard scored 16 points and Rafer Alston had 12. Mutombo had 10 rebounds. McGrady also had a team-high seven assists and added five rebounds.

Hornets 84, Magic 78, OT

At Oklahoma City, Jannero Pargo scored a season-high 25 points and the Hornets held Orlando to one basket in overtime.

Desmond Mason scored 21 points, and Rasual Butler had 19 points and tied his career high with 11 rebounds as the Hornets won their third straight.

Dwight Howard had 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Magic, who lost their third in a row.

A jumper by Butler to start overtime gave the Hornets a 77-75 lead. Orlando then missed two shots and turned it over twice before Devin Brown sank two free throws for a 79-75 lead. After Mason made one of two free throws with 27.4 seconds left, Butler kept the ball alive and Pargo added two more free throws to make it 82-75 with 23.1 seconds to play.

SuperSonics 101, Cavaliers 96

At Seattle, Ray Allen scored 22 points and dished out 11 assists to help the SuperSonics beat the Cavaliers.

Allen struggled to follow up his career-high 54-point performance against Utah last Friday. Allen was constantly harassed by Cleveland's Larry Hughes, and when Allen did find space to get off an open look, his shot was off.

LeBron James led Cleveland with 30 points, including 13-of-15 at the free-throw line.