The fourth quarter belonged to Monta Ellis

Monta Ellis doesn’t know what it is about the fourth quarter that gets his juices flowing and turns him into a scoring machine.

“I guess it’s in my blood,” Ellis said after scoring 13 of his season-high tying 38 points in the fourth quarter of the Dallas Mavericks’ 99-93 win over San Antonio on Saturday. “I’ve always been like that, even when I was a kid.

“I just love those moments and I’ll be locked in then, try to find every seam and every gap and focus on hitting the shot in the fourth quarter for the team.”

Ellis was definitely locked in Saturday as he tallied 11 of the Mavs’ final 13 points and helped the Mavs increase their record to 20-8. Four of Ellis’ late points came via drives to the basket, another came on an 8-foot jumper, and he also buried a 3-pointer which tied the game at 89-89 with 3:32 left.

“In the fourth quarter we couldn’t settle for those jump shots,” Ellis said. “We needed to attack the paint.

“Those guys were tired from (playing a triple-overtime game against Portland Friday) night, too. Their defense kind of let up and we just took advantage of it.”

Ellis wound up making 15-of-23 shots, including 5-of-6 from beyond the 3-point arc, while playing 40 grueling minutes. That includes making 6-of-8 baskets in the frantic fourth quarter.

“He was the best player on the floor tonight without question,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Without him getting 38 points, this was going to go the other way.”

But Ellis wouldn’t let the game go the other way. He dug in deep, put the Mavs on his back and carried them across the finish line.

“Well, picking my spots and the shots was going in,” Ellis said, in describing his performance. “They continued to do a great job of finding me and putting me in spots where I could make shots.”

Ellis obviously settle din well with his new backcourt mate, Rajon Rondo. The duo fed handsomely off each other, as Rondo finished with six points, seven rebounds, nine assists and two steals.

“He’s still got to get the feel for it, but he did a wonderful job of finding guys,” Ellis said. “I think putting him in the middle of that zone really helped us to soften them up.

“He made plays for others, found Tyson (Chandler) under the basket, found me and Dirk (Nowitzki) for some open threes. So, he really loosened up the defense and we were able to knock shots down.”

Ellis let it be known that the addition of Rondo doesn’t affect his game.

“My role’s not going to change,” Ellis said. “I’m still going to be that playmaker who will do whatever the team needs.

“It just makes it so much easier for me. I can just run out and (Rondo) can hit me and then we can get into the open floor game.”

Ellis also praised the defense the Mavs played in the fourth period when they held the Spurs to just 16 points on 5-of-16 shooting and forced them into eight turnovers.

“We were locked in, everybody was energetic,” Ellis said. “Everybody was on the same page.

“As long as we get stops, we can beat anybody. Our biggest thing is getting stops, getting out running, doing our open court offense.”

This story was originally published December 21, 2014 at 3:57 PM with the headline "The fourth quarter belonged to Monta Ellis."