In his Dallas Mavericks debut Sunday, Amar’e Stoudemire elevated for a big finish over Jason Maxiell.
Stoudemire finished with a 14 points and three rebounds in 11 minutes of action, as the Mavs held on for a 92-81 win against the visiting Charlotte Hornets.
Monta Ellis was the star of the night, as he pumped in a team-high 23 points with 15 of them coming in the fourth quarter.
Per the Star-Telegram:
After the pesky Hornets rallied from a 17-point deficit to inch to within 75-68, Ellis scored 15 of his team’s final 17 points over the last 6:42 of the game. And he assisted on the other two points when he fired a pass that Tyson Chandler converted into a flying dunk.
“We were stuck in the mud there,” coach Rick Carlisle said, referring to his offense. “We were having trouble scoring. Monta had a frustrating first three quarters, but he stayed with it and he found something that got us a little bit of traction. He put the ball in the basket four or five times in a row and that got the game sealed for us.”
“I felt a little winded at the end of the first quarter, but other than that I felt good,” said Stoudemire, who was 5 of 8 from the field and powered his way to three dunks. “I think when you’re playing with good basketball players the game becomes easy. It’s a matter of finding the right spots on the court to get open and take advantage of your opportunity and go for it.”
