Matthews sat during crunch time against the Grizzlies

DALLAS – For one of the rare times this season, shooting guard Wesley Matthews was on the Dallas bench during crunch time when the Mavericks rallied to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies, 114-110, in overtime this past Saturday.

Matthews didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter, and only got in the final 16.6 seconds of the five-minute overtime session.

So why was the player the Mavs signed to a massive four-year, $70 million free agent contract last summer on the bench when the game was hanging in the balance?

The impressive way Raymond Felton was playing certainly factored into it.

"The way the game was going and how well Felton was playing,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said, when asked about Matthews’ benching. "Wes wants to play, there’s no question about that, and it’s a good problem to have.

"You’ve got a guy like Felton that’s playing that well, who’s putting the ball in the hole and making plays and doing other things, these are tough decisions that a coach had to make. But I’ve got to make them.’’

Felton played the entire fourth quarter and the entire overtime period against the Grizzlies and finished the night with 16 points, seven rebounds and one assist in 32 minutes. Matthews had just eight points, two assists and no rebounds in 30 minutes.

Dwain Price can be heard every Wednesday from 3-4 p.m. on dfwiradio.com

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Matthews sat during crunch time against the Grizzlies."