The Dallas Mavericks celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. holiday by coming out of Memphis with a signature 103-95 win over one of the Western conference elite teams in the Memphis Grizzles.
Despite posting their best record at the halfway point of the season since the 2006-2007 season, the Dallas Mavericks have lacked a signature win against any of the other top eight Western conference teams in the standings. It was a physical battle all afternoon and in the end, the Mavericks pulled off a much needed win over the Grizzles to improve to 2-8 against the West's top eight teams.
Mike Conley made his return to the starting lineup for the Grizzles after he missed some time with a sprained ankle. Even so, it wasn't enough to prevent the Mavericks to get off to a fast start in the first quarter behind Devin Harris' nine points to open up the game, as they led, 25-16, at the end of one.
Led by 12 points apiece from Ellis and Harris on a combined 9-of-16 from the field, the Mavericks outshot the Grizzlies through two quarters, 44.4 percent to 42.9 percent. The Mavs also held a 22-20 rebounding edge, overcoming the Grizzlies’ 32-14 advantage in points in the paint.
The duo of Parsons and Ellis carried the offense in the third quarter, catching fire from the outside, as the Mavs surged ahead by double digits before taking an 82-75 edge into the fourth.
The Grizzles would start the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run to quickly tie up the game and even took the lead, 91-89, with 4:01 to play, their first lead since it being 4-2 in the first quarter. However, as he has done so many times, the 12-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki would save his best for last, as he sunk a vintage fade away jumper to make it 97-93 Dallas with 1:51 left in the fourth. Nowitzki would seal the game by scoring the Mavs' last four points to make it a final score of 103-95.
Monta Ellis led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting to go along with Dirk's 21 points, 19 of those coming in the second half.
For the second game in a row the Mavericks won the rebounding battle, an aspect they have certainly struggled with throughout the season thus far. Another big difference in the game was the Mavericks' three-point shooting which was 40 percent, while the Grizzles shot a measly 13.6 percent from beyond the arc.
The Mavericks will now continue their road Wednesday in Minnesota, playing the Timberwolves for the second time this season.
