Ellis keeps Mavs-Rockets interesting

Monta Ellis is petulant and his body language can be profane. He's not the kind of guy you want to be the face of your franchise because Ellis doesn't want the public accountability that accompanies that responsibility.

If you're not careful, Ellis' personality can make you lose sight of how this slender 6-3, allegedly 185-pound dude can dominate an NBA game.

He reminded us once again in Game 4 what he can do on a given night.

Ellis, who scored 34 points in Game 3, scored 31 against theHouston Rocketson Sunday night to help the Dallas Mavericks win their first game in this best-of-7 Western Conference quarterfinal series.

The guy we saw in the past two games can make this series considerably more interesting if he plays the same way Tuesday night in Game 5.

Obviously, it's still a long shot for the Mavs to come back -- no NBA team has ever rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a series.

When Ellis is the Mavs' best player and fully engaged, something that didn't happen much during the last month of the season, Dallas can compete with any team in the NBA.

The Mavs need Ellis attacking so they can score before the Rockets set up their defense because Dwight Howard, Josh Smith and Trevor Ariza can make it difficult for any offense to function.

"We have to continue to stick with the game plan to attack, attack, attack," Ellis said after Game 4, making his first public comments in 34 days.

"If we get into the paint, we make a lot of great things happen. It's more beneficial to us. It gets us going. It gets a lot of guys involved because the other team has to suck in and we have so many guys who can make plays, shoot 3s and drive the basketball. That's what we want to do."

During a 17-game span from Feb. 11 to March 22, Ellis averaged 15.8 points while shooting 38.4 percent from the field and 21.8 percent on 3-point shots. This from a player who averaged 18.9 points while shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 28.5 on 3-pointers for the season.

He struggled in the first two games of the series, making only 13 of 39 shots. He scored 24 points in Game 2 but made just 8 of 23 shots.

Ellis has been aggressive, though, in each of the Mavs' home games.

During the third quarter of Game 4, Ellis scored 12 points as the Mavs built a 24-point lead. The Rockets trimmed the lead to nine with 4:30 left in the game, but Tyson Chandler grabbed an offensive rebound and fed the ball to Ellis at the top of the key.

Ellis drilled a 3-pointer, then turned and punched the air while screaming like a banshee as the Mavs took a 112-100 lead with four minutes left.

"He was relentless. He was nonstop. He had next-play mentality," coach Rick Carlisle said. "Good or bad, he kept playing and charging forward like a freight train.

"That's who he is. He's an attacker through and through, and that's who we need him to be."

That's because Ellis sets the tone for the Mavs' offense these days. Dirk Nowitzki no longer consistently creates his own shot the way he used to when he routinely attacked from the free throw line.

Ellis has that responsibility now. He uses his speed and quickness to attack the lane for a variety of runners, layups and short jumpers.

Ellis' ability to create is one of the reasons that he often takes the final shot. Those opportunities used to be reserved solely for Nowitzki.

"He takes a pounding every night," Nowitzki said. "He's a little guy -- he only weighs a buck 20 or whatever -- and he gets hit every night, but he continues to go in there and make stuff happen for us."

The Mavs need Ellis to do it again in Game 5, or they will be begin their summer vacation.