Jones began the walk back to the visitor's locker room with Brooks when Brooks took off in a sprint for comic effect more than to offer evidence of his health, and then came to a sudden stop, pleased that he had made his point.

After a few minutes tearing it up in a second workout, dashing around screens and launching jumpers, Jones knew Brooks was ready. Instead of missing as many as 10 games, he missed one.

"They said... when he warmed up tonight, he was great," coach Rick Adelman said. "He was moving good. He had no pain. He said he wanted to play. I didn't know how he was going to be after sitting around for three or four days.

"He's young. When you're young, you think you can do anything and I guess he was right."

In a Thursday win over Dallas, Brooks played 20 minutes, including the entire fourth quarter matched up against Jason Kidd, finishing with 14 points, highlighted by a step-back, fade-away three-pointer, and five assists.

"It was real good warming up," Brooks said of his ankle. "I was already cleared. The doctor said I couldn't do anything worse to it so it was just about playing through the pain. For the most part it was good."

ROCKETS 112, MAVERICKS 102: The Rockets battled with the Mavericks for three quarters, leading by as many as 14 points and training by just one heading into the fourth quarter. Then they took control.

The Rockets held the Mavericks to 6-of-24 shooting in the fourth quarter as Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard, who had combined for 61 points in three quarters, had three in the fourth. The Rockets played so well in the final quarter, Rockets coach Rick Adelman kept Tracy McGrady and Rafer Alston on the bench, as Ron Artest and Yao Ming (who combined for 59 points) finished things off with reserves Chuck Hayes, Brent Barry and Aaron Brooks.