Monta Ellis shines for Mavericks in victory over Wizards
In running circles around one of the NBA’s best teams Tuesday night at the American Airlines Center, the Dallas Mavericks were able to end 2014 with a bang.
Monta Ellis returned from injuring his left ankle two days ago to pour in a game-high 20 points, and the Mavs crushed the highly touted Washington Wizards 114-87. It was the 10th win by 10 or more points this season for the Mavs (23-10) and the worst loss of the season for the Wizards (22-9).
Washington was brimming with confidence after Monday’s 104-103 win at Houston. But the Mavs ran the Wizards ragged and played at a fast pace throughout, and the Wizards couldn’t keep up.
“Washington was tired,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “They had an emotional win [Monday] night, and so we took advantage of that. But this is a quality win for us, and we’ve just got to keep building it.”
With 10 early points from Richard Jefferson, the Mavs used an 18-7 run to increase their lead from 34-30 to 52-37 late in the second quarter. From there, the bench kept up the pressure and built a 63-45 lead by halftime.
Tyson Chandler returned and finished with 12 rebounds after missing Sunday’s victory over Oklahoma City with back spasms. And Ellis, who left the contest against Oklahoma City late with a left ankle injury, harassed Wizards shooting wiz Bradley Beal (10 points) with his heady defense.
“I thought the key to the game was Ellis’ defense on Beal,” Carlisle said. “Beal is a dynamic scorer and he’s one of the real keys to their team, and Monta really took the challenge from the beginning.
“[Beal] was 1-for-7 in the first half, which was the reason we had the lead. Monta just stayed into him the whole time, and that was really big.”
Also big was the fact the Mavs turned the ball over just seven times, but turned 23 Washington turnovers into 33 points.
“We knew they were on a back-to-back on a tough game [Monday] night against the Rockets, so that was the thing,” said Ellis, who also contributed four steals. “Just keep the pressure on, keep the ball moving and get out and run.”
And run the Mavs did. Over and over again as if this was a relay race.
By the time Rajon Rondo (11 points, five assists) flipped in a left-handed shot near the key, the Mavs led 75-50 less than five minutes into the second half. Some three minutes later, Chandler Parsons wowed the sellout crowd of 20,397 when he took a shot to the body from Rasual Butler and converted a 23-footer for an 83-56 cushion.
With Dallas toting an 89-64 lead into the fourth quarter, the final 12 minutes was mop-up duty as the Mavs received 54 points from their bench.
“I always play with extreme confidence,” said Jefferson, who scored a season-high 14 points off the bench. “It’s just trying to figure out the puzzle that is our team.”
The Mavs have certainly figured out the Wizards. They’ve beaten them 10 straight times, which is the longest active streak they’ve got going against any team.
Dwain Price, 817-390-7760
This story was originally published December 30, 2014 at 11:26 PM with the headline "Monta Ellis shines for Mavericks in victory over Wizards."