Mavericks 101 Spurs 94: Game 72 Recap

The Lead
The Mavs bounce back with a much needed win as Monta ties his season high in scoring.

Box Score

Leaders
Mavs
Points: Ellis, 38
Rebounds: Nowitzki, 13
Assists: Ellis, Rondo, 5
+-: Nowitzki, +15
Spurs
Points: Leonard, 19
Rebounds: Leonard, 9
Assists: four with 3
+-: Ayres, +6

Game Ball
Monta Ellis
38 points, 5 assists, 16-27 FG, 4-4 FT

X-Factor
Dirk Nowitzki
15 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists

Goat Horns
Tony Parker
8 points, 3-11 FG, 4 TO

Play of the Game
Al-Farouq Aminu went baseline for a jam and was fouled to give the Mavs  a game high 17 point lead with 9:55 to go. The Mavs had trailed by as many as 14 in the first half.

Stat of the Game
Monta's 38 points, 23 of which came in the second half,  tied a season high also set against the Spurs. Ellis was coming off a 4-22 shooting outing against Phoenix on Sunday.

Of Note

• Fresh off watching the birth of his second child and first son on Monday, Dirk grabbed his 10,000th rebound of his career, becoming the first player in NBA history with at least 25,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 1,000 blocks and 1,000 threes.
• J.J. Barea missed his second straight game with a sprained ankle while Richard Jefferson left the game in the first half with back spasms.
• With the Spurs hosting the Thunder on Wednesday, Gregg Popovich sat Tony Parker and Tim Duncan for the entire fourth quarter.
• The win put the Mavs percentage point behind the Spurs for sixth in the West and gave them the edge in the season series 2-1.
• With Barea out, Raymond Felton got 8 minutes of playing time, during which the team was a +10.

Grades
Nowitzki: A-
Parsons: A-
Chandler: B+
Ellis: A+
Rondo: B
Aminu: B
Harris: A-
Stoudemire: B
Felton: B+

Quote of Note
"Too much Monta, don't you think?"
Rick Carlisle postgame

They Tweeted It
 

Dirk should have babies everyday.
— Leigh Ellis (@LeighEllis) March 25, 2015

Next Up
The Mavericks (45-27) will take a couple days off before the rematch against the Spurs (44-26) on Friday in San Antonio.