National Basketball Association

Mavericks-Bucks Preview

Published Dec. 3, 2014 1:59 a.m. ET

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Monta Ellis is no stranger to being one of the top scoring threats in the NBA, but he's never found himself in an All-Star Game or playing for a true contender - though he may finally be on his way to both this season.

Ellis leads the high-scoring Dallas Mavericks into Milwaukee on Wednesday night against the Bucks, who hope Jabari Parker and Brandon Knight can help them avoid a season-worst losing streak.

Ellis' 19.4 career scoring average ranks 13th among active players. He finished no worse than 11th in scoring in four straight seasons from 2009-13 and is back in the top 15 with 20.6 points per game this season after finishing 23rd in 2013-14.

He has never been selected for an All-Star game, however, partly because his Golden State and Milwaukee teams were a combined 236-280 in games in which he appeared. Though he helped Dallas to a 49-33 record last season and made only his second playoff appearance, the Mavericks were eliminated in the first round after finishing eighth in the highly competitive West.

Ellis is averaging a career-best plus-6.0 rating for Dallas (14-5), which leads the league with 110.3 points per game. He scored a season-high 38 in Tuesday's 132-129 double-overtime win at Chicago, hitting tying free throws with 1.2 seconds left in regulation and a go-ahead 3-pointer with 40 seconds left in the second overtime.

He was 16 of 35 from the floor to tie the second-most attempts in his career.

"His shooting numbers were a little unusual, but every time we needed a big shot or a big play, he made it," coach Rick Carlisle said.

Ellis was sub-par in two games against the Bucks last season after opting out of his contract with them, totaling 25 points on 9-of-21 shooting. He had averaged 26.8 points on 50.0 percent shooting in his four most recent meetings prior to being traded to Milwaukee.

The Bucks (10-9) are on the brink of losing three straight for the first time and have their defense to blame for losses to Houston and Cleveland. They held opponents to 43.9 percent shooting through their first 17 games to rank eighth in the NBA, but let the Rockets and Cavaliers make a combined 83 of 160 from the floor (51.9 percent).

Milwaukee led with as few as five minutes remaining in Tuesday's 111-108 loss at Cleveland, which made 10 of 16 shots in the fourth quarter.

Parker finished one point shy of his season high with 22 on 11-of-15 shooting. Team success has rarely corresponded with Parker's best scoring performances, though, as the Bucks are 1-4 when he scores at least 15 points but 9-5 when he scores 14 or fewer.

"It doesn't matter," Parker said. "If we lose it's out the window. That's all I care about. I don't care about stats. You've got to get the win. That's all that counts."

Knight scored 27 on 10-of-18 shooting, hitting a season-best five 3-pointers after he had totaled 33 on 9-of-26 shooting in his previous three games.

Ersan Ilyasova was to remain in Cleveland overnight due to a facial bruise suffered in the first half. He had averaged 15.8 points on 56.0 percent shooting in his previous eight games.

"That hurt us," coach Jason Kidd said of losing Ilyasova. "We didn't have anyone who could knock down the open shot for us."

Dallas has won four of five in the series, with its victories coming by an average of 13.5 points.

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