Game Notes: Tuesday, April 28

By Adam Johnson 

Only two games to watch Tuesday night and both of them big ones in the western conference. One Texas team had a chance to close out another, while the third was looking to take command of their series out in L.A. 

Dallas Mavericks @ Houston Rockets, Game 5, HOU wins 103-94, win series 4-1

• Dwight Howard was once again fantastic in this game; the big man provided stellar defense all evening and finished with 18 points, 19 rebounds and four blocks
• James Harden was steady for Houston and provided a couple of daggers down the stretch; the beard finished with a game high 28 points to go with eight assists in just over 35 minutes of play
• Al Farouq Aminu got the start for Dallas again tonight and had a stretch in the first half where he turned into an All-Star; Aminu did a good job defending Harden before fouled out, and scored 14 points of his own to go with five steals 
• Terrence Jones and Pablo Prigioni gave Houston terrific energy in their combined 40 minutes of action, particularly during the fourth quarter run that sealed the win
• Josh Smith decided to be good Josh Smith tonight and it paid huge dividends for Houston as he scored 20 points off the bench on 7-12 shooting
• With Chandler Parsons out Houston is just a much deeper team than the Mavs and it showed again tonight 
• Fair play to Monta Ellis who dropped a team high 25 points to go with seven assists in what was very possibly his last game as a Maverick 
• I know Dirk Nowitzki was terrible defensively in this series but I really hope this wasn’t the last we see of him in a big moment; the big German finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and a couple of classic fall-aways 
• The Houston Rockets are moving on to the second round for the first time since 2009
  

San Antonio Spurs @ Los Angeles Clippers, Game 5, SAS wins 111-107, lead 3-2

• This is the first truly epic game of the playoffs so far; so much at stake for both teams and both teams delivered
• We are not going to do normal notes for this game because we have something extra coming for it; stay tuned