HOUSTON >> The Dallas Mavericks finally ran out of plays and almost out of players.

Terrence Jones made two critical three-point plays late in the fourth quarter as Houston eliminated Dallas 103-94 in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs Tuesday night at the Toyota Center.

The Rockets win the series 4-1.

James Harden led the Rockets with 28 points. Dwight Howard had 18 points and 19 rebounds. Jones finished with 15, including 10 in the final quarter. Josh Smith added 20.

Monta Ellis, who was injured late in the game, led Dallas with 25 points. Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and 14 rebounds. Before fouling out, Al-Farouq Aminu had 14 points, nine rebounds and five steals.

Dallas pulled within 88-85 with 5:01 left in the game, but Jones answered with a three-point play then hit a deep 3-pointer to create some separation at 94-85.

Not to be outdone, Dallas answered with two free throws by Aminu and a Nowitzki layup to make it 94-89.

After a timeout, Harden hit a 3-pointer and the Rockets stole the inbounds, but didn’t convert.

Dallas got a putback dunk by Tyson Chandler then the Rockets added a fast-break dunk by Jones to make it 99-91 with 1:09 to go.

With every game being an elimination game in the rest of this series, the Mavericks tried to avoid another slow start in Game 5.

Dallas traded early baskets with Houston before a 7-0 run put the Mavericks behind 16-11 at the 5:55 mark of the opening quarter.

Houston kept the seven-point gap over the next 2 minutes until back-to-back fast-break dunks by Aminu made it 23-20.

Houston followed with an 8-0 run for a 31-20 advantage at the 1:08 mark, keyed by a banked-in 3-pointer by Josh Smith and a corner 3-pointer by Corey Brewer.

Nowitzki’s jumper closed the first quarter with Houston ahead 31-22.

The Rockets shot 54 percent from the field to overcome seven turnovers. They also controlled the boards 16-9.

Ellis had 10 points in the opening quarter and was the only player in double-figures on either team.

Each time the Rockets tried to deliver a knockout blow, the Mavericks would stay close either at the free throw line or with steals.

Physical play, the calling card of the series, was again an issue with J.J. Barea being whistled for a flagrant foul and Howard drawing a technical.

After pulling within 52-50, the Mavericks gave up 4 points in 4 seconds to allow Houston to take a 56-50 halftime lead.

With 34 seconds left, Josh Smith made one of two free throws, rebounded his own miss and passed the ball to Harden for a 3-pointer at the top of the key.

Free throws were the saving grace for Dallas, who made 12 of 15 in the second quarter. Nowitzki had six free throws as part of his eight second-quarter points.

Houston continued its solid shooting at 53 percent from the field, including seven 3-pointers. The 28-20 rebounding edge helped the Rockets with 15 second-chance points.

Similar to the first half, the Mavericks found themselves on the ropes again, trailing 75-61 at the 5:21 mark of the third quarter.

And just like the first half, they continued to hang around. Dallas implored the Hack-a-Howard on a few possessions then got momentum on 3-pointers by Charlie Villanueva and Ellis to pull within 82-75 at the end of the third quarter.