Rockets hope to dominate Mavs early in Game 3

DALLAS -- Houston Rockets big man Dwight Howard said it best after shootaround on Friday morning at American Airlines Center, that the key for the Rockets, currently up 2-0 in their first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks, in Game 3 on Friday night is to impose their will early on.

"You have to come out tonight and be dominant. You don't want to give these guys a chance, especially at home where they're going to have the crowd behind them. It's a tough place to play and when they're playing well, they have fans here that are going crazy," Howard said. "We got to do our job early and try to keep the crowd out of the game and try to get a win."

Rockets head coach Kevin McHale, a former teammate of Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle during his playing days in Boston, is well aware of what Carlisle and his players have been going through this week, with the dual announcement that starting point guard Rajon Rondo (back) and No. 3 scorer from the regular season Chandler Parsons (knee) both will not play the rest of the series.

However, McHale reiterated that he can't worry about what Dallas is going through. Instead, he needs to ensure his team's focus is right where it needs to be, on winning Game 3 and taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. 

"You can't (worry about that)," McHale said. "I have no control over what they're doing. I've told you before I've been trying to get into Rick's practices so I'd know what they're doing, he won't let me in. The day you start worrying about them is the day you forget about yourself. I've said it before man, you put Scotts Weed & Feed on your own yard. Let the neighbor take care of his brown stuff. You just try to do the best you can with what you got."

Houston might have taken both Game 1 and Game 2 at the Toyota Center, but McHale and his players both realize how different things could be as the series shifts back to Dallas and to a building the Mavs were 27-14 in during the regular season.

And in light of the adversity Dallas had already fought through this week, McHale expects nothing short of an all-out war this evening on Victory Avenue.

"I think they'll play well. I think that the guys are going to come out, they're going to be fired up at home. Rick's a very, very good coach. He'll have them ready to go. Players have a lot of pride. They've got guys that have won championships on that team," McHale said. 

With Dallas now being back in more familiar surroundings, the man who has naturally led the way for the Rockets on the offensive end, 2015 NBA MVP candidate James Harden, echoes Howard's sentiments by saying that they key to them going up 3-0 in the series might very well lie in just how well they execute on both ends of the floor in the first quarter.

"They are back home. They are going to push the pace, they are going to play faster, score the basketball at a high clip," Harden said. "It's all about that first quarter. In that quarter, we have to hold our ground and be sure we lock in defensively."

Harden added: "We have to be ready for the beginning. We have to play hard and match their intensity and energy. The crowd will be into it, so we have to be ready to go from the beginning of the game."