Monta Ellis struggles, then saves Mavs- Monta Ellis had arguably his worst game in a Dallas Maverick uniform.... Until it mattered most. Ellis was 1-9 from the field with just 2 points and 3 turnovers with 4:28 left in regulation. He had picked up his 5th foul with seven minutes left in the 4th quarter, but head coach Rick Carlisle kept him in the game.
And boy did that pay off. Monta Ellis hit a couple of free throws with 4:56 left in the 4th quarter and then hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Mavs a one-point edge. In overtime, Ellis missed a shot but saved the ball from going out of bounds and threw it in to Tyson Chandler, who gave the Mavs a two point lead that they would not relinquish.
Ellis finished with 8 points on 3-13 shooting, six assists, three steals, and a couple of rebounds.
Three point struggles continue- Though it was a tough win, it was very ugly from behind the arc for the Mavs. They finished 4-31 from three-point range, a putrid 12.9%.
When Dirk was asked about it, he could not provide a definite answer, just saying "I don't know."
The Mavs also struggled defending the three-point line, allowing the Knicks to shoot 50%, including former Maverick Jose Calderon going 7-9 from downtown.
Tyson Chandler explodes on his former team, Calderon does the same for the Knicks- Tyson Chandler definitely had this date circled on his calendar. He posted season-highs in both points (17) and rebounds (25) for a very impressive double-double. His impact goes beyond the stat lines though as he probably had two of the top five momentum-shifting plays, one being an alley-oop and the other being a punctuating dunk in overtime to give the Mavs the lead in the waning minute.
Jose Calderon wasn't too shabby for the Knicks either. Ironically on a night the Mavs were short-handed at the point guard position because of injuries to starter Jameer Nelson and former Knick Raymond Felton, Calderon exploded for 7 three-pointers and a team-high 21 points. Unlike Chandler though obviously, he came up on the losing end.
Dirk plays big in the second half- Dirk had four points at halftime, but finished with a game-high 30 points. He was an absolute monster in the second half and overtime, scoring clutch basket after clutch basket. He also put the game away effectively, scoring a basket with 43.9 seconds left in the game to give the Mavs a four-point lead. The Knicks started playing the foul game after that and never caught up.
Dirk finished with 30 points on 11-24 shooting, six rebounds, two assists, and three steals. He also played a season-high 39 minutes.
What's next?- The Mavs kick off their four game road trip on Friday at Toronto to face off against the Raptors at 6:30 p.m.
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