Coming into the night, Dallas was riding high after one of, if not their most, impressive wins of the season at home against Indiana the night before. On a second night of a back-to-back, the Mavs went into the division matchup with all of their healthy players active.
Even though nobody sat due to rest, the Mavs were still without Dirk Nowitzki, Andrew Bogut, and J.J. Barea due to injury.
For Houston, they too came into the game on a second night of a back-to-back as they defeated Oklahoma City last night. Sitting at 16-7 on the season, Houston is one of the better teams in the league as they are tied for the fourth spot in the West.