The San Antonio Spurs battle the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday in a potential NBA playoff preview. Watch the live stream via the link below.
Dallas has lost half of its last 10 games, including Sunday's 99-92 loss to the Phoenix Suns. While the Mavericks have title aspirations, their play over the last month hasn't indicated it. Following Sunday's loss, coach Rick Carlisle took to the media to publicly call out his team's lack of effort.
"This is a Dallas Mavericks hard-play problem, all right?" said Carlisle, whose team blew a six-point lead in the final six minutes of the game, according to ESPN. "We don't play hard all the time. And that's a problem.
"It's pretty clear that's where our inconsistency is, and we've got to get better. We've got to be a more together team. I believe that we can do it. We did it in the second half, but it's work. It takes effort. It takes effort in the locker room, it takes sacrifice, and we've got to be willing to do those things."
The loss also put into question guard Monta Ellis's future with the team. He's been inconsistent since signing with Dallas last season, and his 11 points on 4-for-22 shooting was another example of it. Carlisle, though, sounded optimistic about Ellis.
"Hey, he had a bad shooting night," Carlisle said of Ellis, who can become a free agent after the season. "That's the way it goes. But if we show up in the first half and play like we're capable, we're not talking about a bad shooting night. We're probably winning the game and doing what we're supposed to do.
"This is not a Monta Ellis problem. This is a Dallas Mavericks hard-play problem. We don't play hard all the time, that's the problem."
San Antonio, meanwhile, heads into Tuesday looking for its fourth straight win. The Spurs are presently sixth in the West, one game ahead of Dallas.
Watch the live stream HERE.
