MILWAUKEE -- Monta Ellis once again saved his sharp shooting for the end.
Ellis hit a wild, fall-away jumper at the buzzer, lifting the Dallas Mavericks over the Milwaukee Bucks 107-105 on Wednesday night.
"Too much Monta," teammate Tyson Chandler said. "He's been playing unbelievable, doing a great job. Not just the final shot, but throughout the game with great penetration, finding guys, keeping the defense on their heels, getting us to the bonus early. Just playing great."
A night earlier, Ellis hit three foul shots with 1.2 seconds left in regulation, then made his only 3-point shot of the game for a go-ahead hoop late in double overtime to win at Chicago.
Ellis followed up that 38-point effort against the Bulls by scoring 23 against Milwaukee. He had eight in the final two minutes on what otherwise had been a bad shooting night for the Mavericks' top scorer, playing against his former team.
The Mavericks won their fifth in a row while resting Dirk Nowitzki because of a sore back. Coach Rick Carlisle called it a "precautionary" move.
Nowitzki played 42 minutes in the Mavs' win at Chicago. He recently was given another night off.
Ellis did not stick around to talk to reporters afterward, but did make brief comments on the Mavericks' television broadcast.
"Coach called the play for me to get an iso (isolation)," Ellis said in the TV interview. "He wanted me to take the last shot, so I just took my time. I just faded to try and get a shot off and was able to see the basket."
Bucks coach Jason Kidd said Ellis "made a tough shot."
"Walk or not a walk, they counted the basket. It didn't come down to just that last shot. We made some mistakes leading up to that," he said.
With Nowitzki out, Ellis got off to a slow start Wednesday. With about six minutes left in the fourth quarter, he was shooting 6 for 20 from the floor.
Then, he found the range.
"We wanted Monta to have the ball at the end, to hit the shot and to get out of there," Carlisle said. "Look, that's an All-Star, flat out. The load he's carried on this trip has been phenomenal. Winning two games without Dirk ... Monta Ellis is having some kind of year."
Chandler scored 18 points and added 20 rebounds for the Mavericks.
Brandon Knight scored 25 points and Khris Middleton added 21 for the Bucks in their third straight loss.
In a back-and-forth ending, Ellis made a jumper that put the Mavs ahead with 32.9 seconds left, and Milwaukee turned the ball over on an offensive foul by Knight. Richard Jefferson hit one of two free throws for a 105-103 lead.
But Knight hit a jumper over Chandler to tie it with 8.9 seconds left. That set up Ellis, who made a shot falling away to his left with O.J. Mayo guarding him.
"'Juice' played some great defense," Kidd said. "He made a tough shot. That's why they're pros."
