I am completely confident in calling this game a revenge game for Wayne “Beef W” Ellington. You know why? Because the Mavericks DELIBERATELY and MALICIOUSLY attempted to DESTROY his career. WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE.
Ellington played for Dallas during 2013-14 season, having been signed as a free agent. He appeared in only 45 games despite not being injured, and only played 9 minutes per in the games he did manage to get in. The facts are there for all to see, and the conclusion is obvious: the Mavericks signed him for the sole purpose of ruining his NBA career. There can be no other reason for them to do what they did. Mark Cuban holds a personal grudge against Beef W, holds it still to this day, and seeing him drop 8 threes on the team he has run into the ground has surely made him furious.
Ellington managed to escape from Cuban’s vengeance relatively unscathed, making stops in LA and Brooklyn before landing with the Heat for his first consistent gig since his Minnesota days. I am so happy to see The Man With The Golden Arm continue making the three-balls that earned him the NCAA tournament MVP back in 2009.
Editor’s note: that first bucket was eventually ruled a three, so don’t get mad when you only count seven of them.