DALLAS -- The Rockets wanted to run with the Mavericks again. They played fast and loose and fired away as Dallas, the NBA's most prolific scoring team, does. And they were loving it.

They shot horribly then magnificently until they were laughing on the court.

Then Mavericks coach Don Nelson took a giant leap on the brakes.

The Mavs slapped the Rockets with a zone defense, throwing at them a 1-3-1 Nelson said they had never used before. The Rockets uneasily fell back to their no-pass offense down the stretch, and the Mavericks swept past them to a 95-91 win before a sellout crowd of 19,939 Thursday night at American Airlines Center.