The Dallas Mavericks got a gritty win and are looking for another on Wednesday as the news and rumors ramp up.
Check out the latest buzz below.
Ellis ‘Has Guts’
Monta Ellis led the Mavericks to a tough win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night, displaying his potent capabilities.
“You may not always like the way Monta Ellis plays or some of the decisions he makes. But there is no denying he’s not afraid in any situation. He knew he was going to be questioned for shooting so much against the Bulls. And yet, he kept shooting,” noted the Dallas News.
“And he made a good enough number of those 35 shots (16) to make this an all-star caliber night. Kobe Bryant would be very proud. And Ellis’ 38 points were his most as a Maverick. He had 37 twice last season. And none of his buckets was as big as the 3-pointer with 39.9 seconds left in the second overtime, which put the Mavericks up by a point. Oh, unless it was the three free throws he made with 1.2 seconds left to get to the first overtime. So, you get the picture. He made a slew of big plays.”
“His shooting numbers were a little unusual, but every time we needed a big shot or a big play, he made it,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said about Ellis taking 35 shots to score 38 points.
Ellis shot those three free throws after Kirk Hinrich made a dumb move by fouling too late, enabling Ellis to get into shooting motion.
“I saw out of the corner of my eye that he was about to do it, so I went into shooting mode,” Ellis said. “He ended up grabbing me and they called a foul.”
Because the Mavericks had no timeouts at the end of regulation, the Bulls wanted to foul intentionally — just not in that spot.
“That was my fault,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I wasn’t real clear on where we wanted the foul. With them having no timeouts, we wanted to foul in the backcourt. It gets real tricky when he’s taking it to a scoring area and the guy’s facing you.”
Ellis, though, still had to make the free throws.
“One of the hardest things in basketball is to stand up there and make three consecutive free throws with basically the game on the line and little or no time left,” Carlisle said. “He stayed in his routine and just trusted it.”
Ellis was asked if it was fun to take so many shots. “If you come out with the win, yes,” he said.
Nowitzki Contributes Big Game
Dirk Nowitzki also deserves credit--among a number of other players--for the win, finishing three rebounds shy of a triple-double.
However, despite his 10 assists and 7 rebounds he had a poor shooting night, scoring 22 but on 8-for-22 shooting.
Tyson Chandler had a big defensive game, helping hinder Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah.
“He brings a lot of energy to the team,” Carlisle said.
“He’s a better player than he was the last time he was here, because he’s refined some of his skills, he’s more knowledgeable, because he’s been with another franchise and played in a lot of big games the last three years.”
Chandler Parsons finished with 24 points and 7 rebounds, and Devin Harris led the guards outside Ellis with 20 points on a nice shooting night that included 6-for-6 from behind the 3-point line, while fishing out eight assists.
“I’ve never seen Devin shoot like this, ever,” Nowitzki told the Dallas News.
Nowitzki’s back has been hurting but he said it actually felt better as adrenaline pumped through, and he plans to play Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Parsons Looking to Boost Play
Parsons noted before the game that he’s looking to be more than a spot-up shooter.
“I’m not a shooter. I shouldn’t just be a spot-up shooter. That’s not what I do. My best attribute is playmaking and making guys better, finding guys and making the game come easier for everybody else,” he told ESPN.
“I think I can create more obviously with the ball in my hands more. I can see the floor with my size and my passing ability. It would make things a lot easier, but I’m not one to ask for plays. I don’t need plays. I can play off the ball, I can cut and dive. I may knock down shots, but [creating is] what I do best, so that would be nice.”
Parsons landed a big contract from the Mavs but has been underwhelming so far with 14.4 points and 2.3 assists per game.
“We’ve talked about it a lot,” Carlisle said. “We’ve got to get driving the ball more as a team and specifically him. … We’ve just got to get the ball moving and get the game scrambled up offensively as best we can to create those situations.”
Parsons averaged 6.3 drives per game last season, and is down to 5.1 drives per game this season. As a result, 40.3 percent of his shots are from the restricted area this season, down from 49.4 percent last season.
Parsons is optimistic he'll get better as he keeps adjusting to his new team.
I think people don’t kind of understand how difficult it is to play on a new team with a new system and new guys on the team. It takes time, and it’s a process. People look at my stats and see that they’re lower than last year, but my role is kind of different from last year. I’m shooting a lot more jump shots. I don’t have the ball in my hands as much this year, but I think all that will come,” he said.
“I like playing with these guys. I love playing in this system. I think that the more I get used to it, the more I play here, the more options will become available.”
Southwest Division ‘Brutal’
The Mavs will have to win a lot of games in order to win the Southwest Division in the Western Conference, which includes some of the best teams in the league.
The Mavericks are 14-5, but still at fourth place in the division, behind the Memphis Grizzlies (15-2), San Antonio Spurs (13-4), and Houston Rockets (13-4). The New Orleans Pelicans (8-8) are in fifth place.
The Mavs record would put them at second place in the entire Eastern Conference if they were there. As it is, they’re in sixth currently in the West.
“It’s brutal,” Mavs owner Mark Cuban told Fox News. “There are no games off in our division. It could be a war of attrition.”
Parsons knows how hard it is, having spent the last three seasons with Houston.
“Best division in all of sports,” Parsons said. “So competitive and no room for error. Every night matters.”
The Mavs have several games coming up against division rivals--they'll play the Grizzlies on the road on December 9, and face the Pelicans at home on December 10.
The Mavs will play the Spurs at home on Saturday, December 20.
Mavs Have Best Bench
The Mavericks have the best bench in the league, reported the Washington Post.
The measurement is win shares by bench players.
At 5.8 win shares for reserve minutes, the Mavs are ahead of the Toronto Raptors (4.9) and Phoenix Suns (4.6). No other team is above 4.0.
Brandan Wright leads individual reserve players with 2.09 win shares, while J.J. Barea is seventh with 1.27.
Wright is averaging 9.5 points off a stunning .733 shooting percentage, taking 5.5 shots a game and making 4.1 of them.
In 19.2 minutes, he’s also averaging 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks.
Another way to measure bench play is the Efficiency Recap, which basically combines all the usual statistics in a formula and spits out a number.
“If we take the Efficiency Recaps of all reserves both for and against we see the Mavericks again distance themselves from the pack,” the Post said.
The worst bench in the NBA is the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
