J.J. Barea of the Dallas Mavericks
Apr 26, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Al-Farouq Aminu (7) and guard J.J. Barea (5) celebrate a basket against the Houston Rockets during the second half in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs. at American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeated the Rockets 121-109. REUTERS/Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Mavericks avoided a sweep in their best-of-seven series in the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs beating the Houston Rockets, 121-109 on Sunday. Monta Ellis led the way with 31 points and two other surprise contributors from the starting line-up, J.J. Barea and Al-Farouq Aminu, also helped Dallas in a big way in pulling off the home victory to extend the series in this Texas match-up.

The pint-sized Barea had 17 points and 13 assists making the Mavericks forget about the Rajon Rondo drama this season. Meanwhile, the athletic Aminu also had a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas, who were missing starting small forward Chandler Parsons because of an injury.

Veteran big men Dirk Nowitzki had 16 points and Tyson Chandler had 10 points and 14 rebounds as all five starters from Dallas scored in double-figure scoring.

The Rockets, who were led by James Harden’s 24 points, can gets another shot of finishing off the Mavericks on Tuesday in Houston for Game 5 of this best-of-seven affair. Dwight Howard had 13 points and 7 rebounds but missed 10-of-13 shots from the free throw line. Josh Smith came off the bench for 23 points.

Ellis admitted in the post-game interview that they wanted badly to avoid the sweep against their Texas rivals. Ellis showed it in the game by shooting well from the field (13-of-21 field goals) in 39 minutes on the floor—the most for any Maverick in this game. As a team, the Mavericks, also shot efficiently making 51-of-94 shots (54.3%) overall while containing the Rockets to just 38-of-81 field goals (46.9%).

Houston led 34-25 after the opening quarter, but the Mavericks outscored the Rockets, 69-41 in the middle quarters to open up the game on the way to the blowout victory. The winner of the Rockets-Mavericks series will face the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers-San Antonio Spurs series, which is tied at 2-2 apiece.

To contact author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.com.au.

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