HOUSTON -- James Harden blamed the added suspense on Rockets coach Mike DAntoni.Harden made a free throw with 0.1 seconds left, lifting the Rockets over the Dallas Mavericks 93-92 in their home opener Sunday night.Harden put extra pressure on himself by missing the first of two foul shots after being fouled by Wesley Matthews on a driving layup at the buzzer with the game tied.Coach messed me up, man -- he said, `Make the first one and miss the second one, and I did the opposite, Harden said with a smile. Im just happy I made it and we came away with the win.Harden led Houston with 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, edging Matthews in a gutsy back-and-forth.After trailing by 10 entering the fourth quarter, Dallas tied it at 92 on a 3-pointer by Matthews with 4.1 seconds remaining.DAntoni was pleased with the execution on the play that won the game. Nene received the inbound pass and found a cutting Harden with a crisp bounce pass before Matthews drew his sixth foul.Thats what he does, DAntoni said. Thats why hes one of the best, and hes just so good at drawing fouls and getting in the lane.Matthews led Dallas with 25 points and J.J. Barea scored 18 points off the bench. In falling to the Rockets for the second time in three days, the Mavericks fell to 0-3 for the first time since 2011-12, the lockout-shortened season following their title.We gave ourselves a chance, and it comes down to the one play and the whistle, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. Were up against it right now in a lot of ways, but no ones backing down. Weve just got to find a way.Dallas was without Dirk Nowitzki (illness, sore Achilles tendon) for a second straight game. Nowitzki participated in pregame warmups but was a late scratch.Our margin for error is so slim, Matthews said. Were not the Golden State Warriors, were not the Cleveland Cavaliers, were not the Spurs, but were a ... good team. So weve got to minimize the stuff that we can control.Houston got strong performances from offseason additions Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson and Nene in their home debuts. Gordon had 14 points, Anderson had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Nene had 11 points.The Rockets capped the first and second quarters with points at the buzzer. To end the first, Corey Brewer hit a 3-pointer from 30 feet out. Harden ended the second quarter on a driving layup to put the Rockets up 63-53.Late in the third quarter, Houstons Trevor Ariza and Dallas Salah Mejri received double-technical fouls after both players fell to the floor and were tangled for a few seconds. Ariza clinched his fists before he was restrained by players.TIP-INSMavericks: Without Nowitzki, Dallas was frequently undersized but managed to hold their own in the rebounding category, with Houston edging the Mavericks 46-42. ... Starting in Nowitzkis place, Seth Curry played 23 minutes and scored no points on 0-for-3 shooting.Rockets: Houston was plagued by 17 turnovers compared to just nine turnovers from Dallas. ... Sam Dekker scored nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from 3-point range.DEFENSIVE COMPOSUREAfter the defense struggled in a 106-98 loss to Houston on Friday, Dallas allowed 63 points in the first half before holding Houston to just 17 points in the third quarter and 13 points in the fourth quarter.HOPKINS IN HOUSEHouston Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins was in attendance for the game, just hours removed from his teams 20-13 win over the Detroit Lions.UP NEXTMavericks: Visit Utah on Wednesday night.Rockets: Visit Cleveland on Tuesday for the first leg of a season-long five-game road trip. Adam Foote Avalanche Jersey . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. 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Last weekend, Arsenal had the kind of performance that vexes their supporters.Having quickly regrouped to advance to the EFL Cup quarterfinals, however, the Gunners now have another opportunity to show how far theyve come mentally on Saturday when they face bottom-feeders Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.Arsenal (6-2-1) are one of three teams atop the table on 20 points, trailing Manchester City by the slimmest of goal difference margins while also holding that same narrow advantage over Liverpool.Arsene Wengers side had its seven-match winning streak come to end last Saturday with a 0-0 draw at home versus new boys Middlesbrough. The gaffer admitted his teams effort was less smooth and less fluent than its impressive winning run in which Arsenal outscored opponents 23-3.But the Frenchman also made note of his teams willingness to dig in and scrape out a result, a virtue that did not always appear last season and contributed to their lack of a title challenge to eventual winners Leicester City.Weve lost games like that, he told Arsenals official website. We are in a position where weve come out of (seven) straight wins. We didnt win but before we maybe wouldve panicked a bit and lost the game.With a quick turnaround in the League Cup, Wenger made nine changes to his starting XI and the result was a 2-0 victory Tuesday over Championship side Reading. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain provided the offence with goals on either side of halftime as the Gunners advanced opposite Southampton in the quarterfinals next month.Any game that I play in is an opportunity for me to show what I can do. And whether its the league, the Champions League, the League Cup or the FA Cup -- its all important, said Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has seen sporadic playing time during the season.Its all game time and its good to get your confidence up to try and play the way you want to play … and hopefully that form will carry over into the league and be rewarded with more starts.Wenger also got some good news as striker Olivier Giroud played nearly a half-hour off the bench and defender Carl Jenkinson, who tore his ACL while on loan with West Ham in January, logged the full 90 minutes.Sunderland (0-2-7) are the onlly team in Englands top five leagues without a victory and have the look of a team resigned to its annual fight to avoid the drop.dddddddddddd The Black Cats were done in by some bad luck last weekend, falling 1-0 at West Ham on a goal by Winston Reid deep into stoppage time.Those losses in league play finally bled over into the EFL Cup, where Sunderland was eliminated in the round of 16 following Wednesdays 1-0 defeat at Southampton. It was the third straight match in all competitions David Moyes team failed to score, but the Scottish manager found some silver linings to bring into Saturdays match -- even if he was banished from the touchline after Victor Anichebe was denied a penalty late.The boys played really well, they deserved to come away with much more, Moyes told the teams official website. I think we played well, our performance was good. We made opportunities today and we dont deserve to be where we are.I think theyll take confidence from getting more touches on the ball, but we need to finish it off and get a few goals to go with it.One of the things that could build confidence for Sunderland would be playing with a lead, but Moyes side have held an advantage for just five of the first 810 minutes theyve logged in league play, conceding a late equaliser at Southampton on Aug. 27 after Jermain Defoe had converted from the spot on 80 minutes.Sunderland are trying to avoid becoming the first Premier League side to open a season winless through their first 10 matches since the 2014-15 Burnley squad opened with four draws and six defeats.And history is decidedly against Sunderland this weekend. The Black Cats have just one win in their last 25 league matches (1-9-15) against Arsenal, a 1-0 victory on Nov. 21, 2009. The Gunners are unbeaten in their last six trips (4-2-0) to the Stadium of Light in league play.Additionally, Arsenal have yielded only eight goals in 15 matches at Sunderland, and while Giroud may not be able to go the full 90 minutes, he does have five goals and two assists in his last six league matches versus the Black Cats. ' ' '