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Quoteboard for Mavericks 114, Wizards 87: "That's the only Monta I know"

Dallas impresses on both both ends to shut down a tired Washington team and move to 23-10.

By Tim Cato
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Bench unit scores 54 points in impressive show

Chandler: "They've been doing an incredible job really throughout the year. Of late, it's been even better, with Charlie stepping in and giving us that punch as a stretch four making the defense stay on their heels. RJ has been consistent all year with his grit and grind, and making a lot of the little plays."

Carlisle: "The bench was real solid. RJ gave us a burst of scoring when he came in. Smith was solid. He converted on some plays around the basket, made his free throws."

Dirk: "RJ was great, really attacking the rim, doing a good job defensively, scrambling. Greg has been great, he's been coming in with energy, using his young, fresh years to finish in the paint. Solid defensively. I thought Charlie V has been great ever since he started getting some time."

Richard Jefferson: "Coach was always in a difficult spot because he had so many guys who could play. You look at Farouq, Jae, myself, at different parts of the season we all played 15 minutes, 12 minutes, crunch time, end of the game. He kind of had this "let's go with who has it going" mentality. It's good for us, but it's tough for us, because it's not super, super consistent. You've got to be a professional and you've got to be ready. Now with Jae gone and Brandan, it allows a few guys like myself to get a few more consistent minutes and hopefully contribute more consistently."

Harris: "I think they've been great. Our identity has changed a little bit without Brandan, without Jae, but other guys have opportunities to step up and they're definitely taking advantage."

Jefferson: "Coach was very up front and honest with me early in the season that he wanted to see what the young guys could do and he didn't really have me in the rotation, and so it was just a matter of me being a professional and waiting for my opportunity. It was always tough for me because I've never been in that type of situation, you might get six minutes in the first half with Monta and Devin and Dirk, and the next time you might get it with Brandan Wright and Jae, so there was never a groove you could kind of get into. Now I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable, feel like I could do it a little more consistently."

Rondo: "It was a great team effort. Jefferson played well, Devin played well along with Barea, so it was a good team win for us."

Monta Ellis fights through ankle injury to lead team

Carlisle: "Most guys in the league wouldn't even think about playing two nights later. He just doesn't miss game.s He's a remarkable athlete and he's a remarkable guy. To top it off, he gave us a big burst of scoring, too. That two-for-one at the end of the half was big. He hit a three, which gave us more momentum. Just all-around, he's so important to us."

Monta Ellis: "I'm good. When I hurt myself I don't think about it, I just go out there and just play. If I don't think about it, it don't hurt. That's my mentality about it."

Rondo: "That's the only Monta I know. I don't expect him to come back and favor anything. If he's going to play he's going to play."

Carlisle: "I thought the key to the game was Ellis' defense on Beal. Beal is a dynamic scorer and one of the real keys to their team, and Monta really took the challenge from the beginning. 1-7 in the first half, which is the reason he had the lead, and in the second half he got a few buckets but Monta just stayed into him the whole time. They're a good team. We played well and we did a lot of good things."

Ellis: "Something that needed to be done. I was focused on the gameplan we had and we knew that he was a big key. We didn't want him to get them going."

Ellis: "I just hate watching basketball from the sideline. That's always been my nature, you know. I just get prepared and don't think about it, I just go out there and play and worry about the injury after. It's not a pride thing, it's just something that I love doing."

Mavericks show up defensively

Chandler: "We're going to score points. We've got enough scorers on the floor. It's all about getting stops."

Dirk: "I thought defensively did a nice job. How great Wall is in transition, how fast he gets to the rim, I thought we did a decent job getting back, trying to load up on him. Monta did a fantastic job on Beal trying to chase him everywhere, chase him off his shots. We did a decent job rebounding with their big front line. Overall, I thought the defense was great today."

Chandler: "A lot of it was about attacking them but also a lot of it was about how aggressive we were going to be. I think for the most part we're starting to understand what we want to accomplish out there and it's making guys a little more aggressive, which is making positive things happen."

Tyson Chandler: "I think we're growing these last couple of games. We definitely are taking some steps forward. Communication is way better out here. Guards are aggressive, it looks good right now."

Harris: "We were in tune from start to finish. We played defense with force, took away the things they like to do and ran back at them other end. If we do this on a nightly basis, we can definitely show mass improvement.

Rondo: "Nothing's ever as easy as it looks. We came out focused tonight, with a defensive mindset. Tried to keep Wall out of the paint and take care of their 3-point shooters."

Chandler: "We understand what we're trying to accomplish out there. It has taken guys a while to really understand the defense and understand the personnel. We still got some way to go but it's slowly coming together, and I think because of that guys are starting to come together and know where they're supposed to be. Put more pressure on the ball, get your hands in there a lot, get deflections."

Everything else

Dirk on the -14 rebounding edge: "They are a big front line and so was obviously OKC, and against OKC we played a lot of smallball against a very long front line. Today, we probably should have been a little better with Tyson back but you know, as long as we keep scrambling defensively and don't give up a lot of open shots there will be some second chance opportunities for the other team. As long as we stay solid I like our chances."

Dirk on Rondo's return to Boston: "The good thing is I've never had to go through it my entire career, so I can't really speak from experience there, but I've obviously been through it as a teammate plenty of times and you've got to really focus one possession to the next. There's some emotions at the beginning with the ovation and stuff and then you just focus really at the task at hand."

Dirk on being frustrated missing some early shots: "Yeah, I was wide open there. In the first half I thought I had some good looks that I should have made. In the second half, I shot, what, two shots? In the first half I should have hit a couple more shots."

Rondo, on whether he likes leading a bench unit: "It doesn't matter. Whatever coach decides. I just try to go out there and lead by example regardless of who I'm playing with, do it on both ends of the floor."

Rondo, on whether he's looking forward to playing Boston: "Yup."

Rondo, something more about him going back (I couldn't hear the question): "We'll see."

Rondo, on adjusting to teammates: "It doesn't take long. At the end of the day it's basketball and there are a lot of intelligent guys on this team who make basketball plays."

Rondo, on his thoughts of going back to Boston: "Nothing much."

Rondo, on whether it'll feel different going back there: "Ask me those questions after the game. I want to win every game."

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