By Jennifer Cooper, CNNSI.com The Lone Star State may be better known for its love of football, but the NBA's three Texas teams are doing their part to make it a hoops state, too. With identical 5-2 records, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio are tied for second in the Midwest Division. The Rockets, who were supposed to be done when they lost Hakeem Olajuwon to the Raptors and Maurice Taylor to injury, are hanging in there. Thanks to some key contributions from Kevin Willis, Kenny Thomas and Moochie Norris, the Rockets are sixth in the league in points allowed (91.3) and they've proved they can win the close ones. Two of their wins came in overtime, and the average margin of victory in their other three is less than five. Building on the momentum they created in the first round of the playoffs last season, the Mavs are helping fans in Big D forget about the Cowboys' miseries. With three different leading scorers in their seven games (Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley and Juwan Howard), the Mavs are tough to contain. But they're also tough on the defensive end. Dallas is 10th in points allowed, as their opponents are averaging only 93.4 per game. While the Rockets and Mavs are impressing opponents with their defensive skills, the Spurs are merely outscoring their foes. Led by Tim Duncan, who's getting help from offseason acquisition Steve Smith and rookie Tony Parker, San Antonio is fourth in the league in points per game, with 103.6. And unlike the Rockets' slight margin for error, the Spurs have won their five games by an average of 15 points
