Monta Ellis: Crunch Time Go to Guy for Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks have started their NBA season off strong sitting 17-7 after just 24 games played. The Mavericks are in seventh place in the Western Conference just 3 ½ games behind the front running Golden State Warriors.
Dallas has the leagues best offense thus far and that is thanks to balance.
The Mavericks have many weapons and so many different ways to put the ball in the hoop. That great versatility was displayed for everyone watching on Wednesday night when Dallas defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 112-107, when four players for Dallas scored 20 points or more.
That is a difficult accomplishment for a team, and the Mavs have done that twice already in just the first ten days of December. Devin Harris, Chandler Parsons and veteran Dirk Nowitzki each scored 20 or more points on Wednesday and can light it up any night.
However, it is Monta Ellis that shines the most and especially during crunch time. He was the fourth player to score 20 or more points on Wednesday with 26. He scored half of them during the final 4:30 of the game.
He and Richard Jefferson were the only two players for the Mavs to score during the final five minutes of the game. Jefferson hit two free throws in the final 4.5 second to seal New Orleans’ fate.
Ellis loves crunch time and no one in the league has been more prepared for that this season.
Ellis is leading the league in scoring during crunch time with 59 points over 54 minutes when games have a five point or less difference during the last five minutes of the game.
Nowitzki at 36 is the elder statesman on the team, says Ellis at 28 is in his prime and is the go to guy during crunch time. The German said Ellis wants the ball at that time and has come through for the team nightly.
On November 28, Ellis scored 15 points over the last 4:45 of the game in a victory against the Toronto Raptors.
That performance was only his third best clutch show over a road trip that the Mavericks were 4-0.
In a double-overtime victory against the Chicago Bulls, Ellis has 38 points on the night, a season high, including three free throws that put the game into OT and the winning three-pointer with 40 second left in overtime. He scored 7 points during the second overtime in that game.
Ellis then capped the road trip with four baskets over the last minute and a half to defeated Milwaukee, which included an off the dribble one-legged, spinning backward fade away as the buzzer was sounding to break both a tie and the Milwaukee’s hearts.
