Game Night: Mavs Look For Back To Back W’s Over Spurs

Tonight, the Dallas Mavericks (45-27) have the opportunity win a 3-1 record season series against their in-state rival San Antonio Spurs (45-26). The Mavs earned a much-need 101-94 win at home versus San Antonio, led by a dominating 38-point performance from Monta Ellis.

 

 What to Watch For:

 

“Too Much Monta” or “Too Little Monta”?

 

Which Monta Ellis will we see play tonight? Is it the Monta we saw shoot a grueling 18% from the field in Phoenix this past Sunday? We sure hope that’s not the case. Let’s hope the player that shows up is the Monta Ellis who scored 38 points off 59% shooting from the field from Tuesday night. Against the Spurs this season, Ellis managed to average 34 points per game, 4 assists per game, 2.3 steals per game, and with a .592 field goal percentage. Expect Monta to have a huge impact tonight on the offensive side of the ball.

 

Attacking the Basket

 

Looking at the box score from the previous game against the Spurs, the Mavs outscored their rival in the paint 52 to 38. For a Mavs team that averages about 45 PPG in the paint this year, that’s pretty impressive. The goal should be to settle for less jump shots on offense and penetrate to the basket against the Spurs’ ageing big men.

 

Strong Second Half 

 

The Mavs walked into the locker at halftime last game with a 46-43 deficit. Once the second half started, Dallas looked like one of the best offensive teams in the NBA. Just in that third quarter alone on Tuesday, Dallas maintained a 70% field goal percentage and shot 75%  from behind the three-point line. This team has to come out of halftime tonight with the mindset to close out the game to win the season series.

 

Matchup To Watch

 

Rajon Rondo vs Tony Parker

Tony Parker struggled in Tuesday’s loss to the Mavericks, going 3-11 from the field, only 3 assists, and a +/- of -12 when on the floor. I fully expect him to make his presence felt tonight and it will be up to Rajon Rondo to slow him down and keep the pressure on Parker when on the offensive end of the floor. Parker has been a constant thorn in the Mavericks side for years, and when he’s playing at a high level, he can cause plenty of headaches for the Mavericks coaching staff.

 

 

 

 

 

Projected Starting Lineups

Mavs	Points	Assists	Rebounds
Dirk Nowitzki	17.1	1.9	6.0
Chandler Parsons	15.7	2.4	4.9
Tyson Chandler	10.0	1.2	11.5
Monta Ellis	19.1	4.2	2.4
Rajon Rondo	9.2	6.4	4.7

 

Thunder	Points	Assists	Rebounds
Kyle Singler	3.5	0.8	2.2
Steven Adams	7.8	1.0	7.6
Enes Kanter	17.3	1.3	10.7
Dion Waiters	11.8	1.7	2.7
Russell Westbrook	27.6	8.6	7.2

 

Photo Credit: Dallas Mavericks