LOS ANGELES (AP) — Monta Ellis scored 18 of his 31 points in the third quarter, and the Dallas Mavericks closed with a 16-3 spurt in the final 6:36 to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 100-93 on Sunday night.
Dirk Nowitzki had 12 points for the Mavericks, who had lost four of five. They played without point guard Devin Harris for the second straight game because of an injured right hand, but Chandler Parsons returned to the lineup and finished with 11 points and six rebounds in 35 minutes after missing seven games with a sprained left ankle.
Carlos Boozer had 17 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Lakers, who have lost five straight and 21 of 25.
Al-Farouq Aminu scored six points in a 1:36 span and Rajon Rondo added a 17-footer to give the Mavericks a 92-90 edge with 4:12 remaining after they trailed by six on Boozer’s reverse layup with 6:36 to play.
The Lakers got only one field goal after the one by Boozer — a layup by Wayne Ellington at the final horn. Rondo hit a 17-foot bank shot for a 95-90 lead with 2:43 left, and Ellis helped put it away with a 3-pointer and a 21-footer 56 seconds apart.
Ellington missed seven of eight shots in the first half, including a 3-point attempt from the top of the key at the second-quarter buzzer that would have snapped a 44-all tie.
Ellington drained one from behind the arc 25 seconds into the third, then added a driving dunk. But Ellis made three shots from 3-point range in the final 1:02 of the third, including a buzzer-beater that sliced the Mavericks’ deficit to 77-75.
___
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Nowitzki had four rebounds, putting him 40 away from becoming the 41st player in NBA history with at least 10,000 in the regular season — and the fifth active player behind Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard and Shawn Marion. “You’re talking about one of the really remarkable careers in NBA history,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “There’s never been a 7-foot-1 guy in the history of this league that’s played his position the way he’s played it at his age, and he’s got a lot of good basketball left in him. So we’re vigilant about watching his minutes, and he’s vigilant about working to keep his body tuned up and ready to play.” … The Mavs are 24-4 against opponents with losing records, but 17-19 against teams above .500. Four of their next five games are against teams with 40 or more wins — Cleveland, the Clippers, Oklahoma City and Memphis. “The quality of our opponents has gone up in recent weeks, and that makes it harder,” Carlisle said. “We’re just going through a tough period right now. We’ve missed some of our key guys and there’s been a trickle-down effect, which makes it harder on the other guys.”
Lakers: Nick Young missed his seventh straight game because of a sore left knee. “He still has pain in there and some swelling,” coach Byron Scott said. “It’s not going down as quickly as we had anticipated, so we’re less optimistic about him coming back anytime soon. And we’re not going to rush him back if he’s not 100 percent, but it would be good for him to go out on a positive note because he’s obviously struggled this year with his shooting. I’m not saying he has anything to prove, but I think it would help his confidence.” … The Lakers are 0-7 at home this season against Southwest Division clubs, and 0-14 under those circumstances since Nov. 12, 2013, when they beat New Orleans 116-95.
UP NEXT
Mavericks: Host Cleveland on Tuesday.
Lakers: Host Detroit on Tuesday.
This article was written by Joe Resnick from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
