Houston, TX – The Houston Rockets caught fire in the third quarter and never looked back.
Chandler Parsons netted 11 of his 32 points in the third and the Rockets routed the Dallas Mavericks, 136-103, on Sunday.
Houston outscored Dallas 44-17 in the third. The Rockets shot 70 percent (14- of-20) from the floor and nailed six of their 10 3-point attempts. Parsons and Harden, who had 14 of his 21 points in the third, hit three triples apiece in the frame.
Parsons made his first 11 shots from the field. He was 12-of-13 overall and finished 6-of-7 from beyond the arc for Houston, which has won four of its last six games.
"Our spacing and our ball movement opened up the floor so much for me, and I just knocked down shots. When you get in a zone like that, it's one of the best feelings in the world for a basketball player," Parsons said.
O.J. Mayo tallied 18 points to lead the Mavericks, who have dropped four of their last five contests on the heels of a three-game winning streak.
"This is one of those situations where you have to step up to the challenge, and we just didn't do it," Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle said of the third quarter.
The Mavs led 33-31 after a quarter of play, but the Rockets outscored Dallas 33-28 in the second to take a 64-61 edge into the break.
The Rockets then came out of the locker room and pulled away quickly, beginning the third on a 22-4 run to seize control.
Parsons had eight points and drained two of his treys during the burst, which was capped on a Jeremy Lin bank shot for an 86-65 Houston spread midway through the third.
The Rockets took a 108-78 cushion into the fourth and the margin reached its apex at 37 in the final frame.
Game Notes
The Rockets' 44 points in the third matched the third-highest quarter total in the NBA this season. The Clippers netted 46 against Houston on Feb. 13, and the New York Knicks put up 45 in the fourth against the Chicago Bulls on Dec. 21.
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