Ellis, Mavericks show heart and soul in rallying past Spurs

This was what Rick Carlisle was referring to when he talked about his team putting their heart and soul into a game.

On a night Dallas desperately needed to climb out of a deep funk, the Mavericks received a season-high-tying 38 points from Monta Ellis and a rare double-double from the team’s newest daddy en route to a 101-94 triumph Tuesday night over the San Antonio Spurs at American Airlines Center.

Carrying around heavy luggage the past 48 hours after Carlisle questioned the team’s soul following Sunday’s 98-92 loss at Phoenix, the Mavs played with a renewed spirit against the defending NBA champions.

With the playoffs just around the corner, the Mavs were constantly diving for loose balls, flying at shooters while rotating on defense, and playing with a passion not seen around here in a long time.

“We did a good job of playing through the entire clock defensively tonight, and that was the key to the game,” Carlisle said. “We got into a hole, but everybody kept playing, everybody kept digging in.

“Everybody kept believing in what we’re doing, believing in each other, encouraging each other. It’s a really important win for us right now.”

The victory snapped a two-game losing streak as the Mavs (45-27) went toe-to-toe with a Spurs (44-26) team that entered Tuesday’s contest winning 10 of their last 12.

The Mavs, down 36-22 in the second quarter, seemed to be playing as if their playoff lives depended on the outcome.

The Mavs currently have a 2-1 edge over the Spurs in the season series, just in case the tiebreaker comes into play if both teams wind up with identical records.

Ellis, criticized for shooting a season-worst 4-of-22 from the floor in the six-point loss at Phoenix, came out firing and finished the game 16-of-27 shooting. He was the catalyst, shaking off the critics and tallying 13 points in the third period as the Mavs used a 15-2 run to seize control.

“Man, it was just good how we came out aggressive at the beginning of the game,” Ellis said. “They made their run, but we stuck with it, made our run and were able to sustain that and come out with the win tonight.”

When the Spurs whittled an 85-68 deficit to 95-87 with 2:48 left, Ellis scored on a drive to put the Mavs back up by 10. And fittingly, it was a jumper by Ellis that stretched the Dallas lead to 101-90 with 43.6 seconds remaining.

“I love the way he played,” Carlisle said. “He stayed aggressive. I thought his defense was good, and the fact that we got into transition got him some easy buckets early and got him rolling.”

Nowitzki, whose wife gave birth to a son Monday, collected just his fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 boards. Nowitzki also became just the seventh player in NBA history to record at least 27,000 points and 10,000 rebounds — the latter mark he accomplished Tuesday.

“Obviously it’s a blessing, a healthy kid, momma is healthy,” Nowitzki said of the birth. “So it’s a special time for me and my family.”

This was the special kind of game that Carlisle had been wanting for a while, though there were some expected bumps in the road.

With the Mavs committing six turnovers that led to 13 points for San Antonio, the Spurs led 29-17 after the first period.

But the Mavs recovered nicely, and now await Friday’s rematch in San Antonio.

“This was a big win, and we know we are capable of playing this way,” said Chandler Parsons, who contributed 15 points and six rebounds. “That’s what is so frustrating is when we play inconsistent.

“But we played our tempo tonight, we played our style of basketball and that’s what we have to do.”

This story was originally published March 24, 2015 at 11:28 PM with the headline "Ellis, Mavericks show heart and soul in rallying past Spurs."