Led by Ellis, Warriors' six end Mavs' win streak at five

Who needs a dominant big man? Who needs a big man at all?

The Warriors' little guys -- Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow and Stephen Curry -- combined for 82 points, 17 rebounds, 19 assists and 10 steals to lead the Golden State Warriors to an unlikely 111-103 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.

See: West power rankings if no team had a player 6-9 or taller

Ellis, who has been called an All-Star by his teammates for his recent efforts, continued his ascent to the league's upper echelon with another big game: season-high 37 points, eight assists and four steals (more than enough to offset 11 turnovers).

In the last four games, since the combination of the Stephen Jackson trade and the assorted injuries reduced the Warriors to 6-8 healthy players per night, Ellis has averaged 28.0 points, 7.0 assists, 4.0 steals and 3.0 rebounds while playing 45.5 minutes per night.

In those four games, partly by design and party out of necessity, the Warriors have spread the floor to new extremes and abandoned any hope of developing a low-post presence. The end result has been more room for Ellis to operate and dominate -- and a 2-2 record after a miserable 3-6 start against the league's lesser teams.

This must be what coach Don Nelson, who missed Tuesday's game with pneumonia, envisioned when he talked about converting Ellis to point guard. With the ball in his hands, Ellis creates a multitude of options -- the best one being driving past his man, weaving through the defense and scoring an easy layup. Going one-on-one, when it ends with a basket rather than a forced shot against three defenders, is no longer a recipe for offensive disaster.

 Dallas, like the Celtics, Cavs and Blazers before them, had no answer for Ellis when he decided to go to the basket. They had no one on the perimeter who could stop him. And with no one under the basket because the Warriors are happy to have all five offensive players starting outside the 3-point line, there was no second line of defense once he beat the first.

If the Mavs did collapse and try to stop him at the rim, Ellis had three spot-up shooters on the perimeter to choose from. And on Tuesday, Ellis chose wisely when he decided to pass to Morrow, who drained a career-high six 3-pointers on eight attempts to finish with 27 points.

Curry and Vladimir Radmanovic, who like Ellis and Morrow played all 48 minutes, added two 3-pointers each as the Warriors were a combined 10-for-21 from beyond the arc. The Warriors become much better shooters when the defenders are scrambling to try to stop Ellis.

During the game-ending and game-clinching 22-5 run, the Warriors were 7-for-9 from the field with Ellis, Curry and Morrow combining for 20 of the 22. Even without him on the bench, it was Nelson small-ball at its finest.

"We're limited, but we left it all on the court," said Ellis, who was getting his tired and cramping calves rubbed down during timeouts and dead-ball situations in the final minutes.

"It just shows the heart that everyone who is suiting up has and how much they love the game," Ellis said in The Chronicle. "We're having fun again, playing together as a team, and it's a whole different vibe that we've got going."

Meanwhile:

-- Neither Corey Maggette (hamstring) nor Chris Hunter played, leaving acting coach Keith Smart with a six-man rotation. His small lineup featured Ellis, Curry, Morrow, Radmanovic and either Anthony Randolph or Mikki Moore at center. His big lineup had both Randolph and Moore in while Curry rested. "Coming into this game, we had nothing to lose," Smart said. "The worst case is they blow us out and we move on to San Antonio. But our guys have a lot of character. They played hard together and made the right decisions."

-- Not sure what he said or if it had any impact, but Smart called a timeout with 6:39 left after Ellis scored on a driving layup then limped down the court. After the timeout, the Mavs scored the first basket to take a 98-89 lead. The Warriors then went on their 22-5 to end the Mavs' five-game winning streak.

-- I did notice Smart stop Curry to talk to the rookie on his way to the bench during a timeout just 4:21 into the game with the Warriors already having nine turnovers. When the team returned from the timeout, Curry was on the bench. Brave move for a guy coaching his first game with Nelson not in the building.

-- Curry finished with a season-high 18 points. During the first half, however, he was looking like the guy who replaced Jackson as the one you were saying "please don't shoot" to when he had the ball. Curry and Smart both said Curry was tentative in the first half, then looked to be more of the scorer he was in college in the second half. He scored 11 in the final four minutes.

-- This from ESPN: the Warriors are just the third team since the 1976-77 merger to play just six players.

-- Dallas has its own injury problems, playing without starters Erick Damper, Shawn Marion and Josh Howard. But no one is going to get sympathy from the Warriors.

-- Two big keys down the stretch: 1. The Mavs, not the Warriors, looked like the tired team. 2. The Warriors, not the Mavs, were in the bonus and shooting free throws the last six minutes of the game.

-- Not to keep blaming Jackson for the team's offensive struggles in the past, but it sure seems like Jackson was to blame for the team's offensive struggles. Everyone around the team says how much better the ball is moving now. And something they're not saying anymore is how the team takes too many 3-pointers. When you're making them (which Jackson wasn't), 21 isn't too many to take in a game. Maybe it was just that Jackson was taking too many.

-- Did anyone else get tired hearing the chants of "DE-FENSE" and "GO MAVS" over the P.A. system? I don't remember hearing that at Oracle. Am I wrong?

-- For the first 3 1/2 quarters, the Warriors didn't seem to have the same energy they had the past three games. I was ready to write it off to playing on the road with only six players and the fact that it was the fourth straight game with such a limited roster. Then they took over and pulled away. We'll save that excuse for another day -- like Wednesday, perhaps.

-- C.J. Watson, out with the flu, is expected to join the team in San Antonio on Wednesday. The Warriors will need some reinforcements as they have lost 22 straight games in San Antonio, many in blowout fashion.

-- I would expect Hunter to see more playing time against Tim Duncan.

-- Radmanovic, a 6-10 wing player known mostly as a shooter, pulled unusual double-duty on defense during his marathon outing. His assignments were either Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavs' 7-foot scoring machine, or the Mavericks' point guard, whether it be Jason Kidd (6-4) or Jose Juan Barea (6-0). If he's truly that versatile on defense, he's going to be a nice "throw in" piece in the Jackson trade. By the way, he also added 14 points, 12 rebounds and four steals.

WEDNESDAY'S GAME

Who: Warriors (5-8) at Spurs (6-6)

When: 5:30 p.m.

TV: CSNBA

Radio: KNBR 1050