The Houston Rockets came out tough and controlled the game from the opening minutes, defeating the Mavericks in Dallas by a final score of 98-86.

Tracy McGrady led all scorers with 34 points on 14-27 shooting while Mike James pitched in 16 off the bench.

Dirk Nowitzki struggled, scoring 21 points on 5-19 shoooting.

The Mavericks will face a must win Game 2, as they can ill-afford to go down 2-0 as the series shifts to Houston.