That didn’t take long. The night after ESPN Dallas’ Tim MacMahon reported Monta Ellis’ moodiness in the Mavericks locker room had become a concern for the Mavs brass, he went off for 38 points against a streaking Spurs team.
Ellis was 16-for-27 in almost 40 minutes of action last night for his 38, and most of them came with the Claw, Kawhi Leonard, guarding him.
Monta loves going against the Spurs. His 38 points last night ties a season-high, which he set by scoring 38 against earlier this season, on December 20th. Per Elias, Ellis is the last player to score 35-plus points against the Spurs in consecutive games, when he did so in the 2009-10 campaign. Month has now gone for 35 points or more six times in his career against the Spurs, and hasn’t done it more than three times against any other team in the Association. San Antonio loves forcing those long two-points, and Ellis loves taking them. Last night, however, he got into the teeth of their defense to finish at the rim:
On top of Monta’s scoring, the Mavs, allowing the 16th most points per possession in the NBA, held their in-state rivals to under 43 percent shooting with only Leonard (19) and Danny Green (17) cracking double-digits.
