Maybe the smile betrayed him. Maybe the smile was speaking the truth for a guy who's normally pleasant, but more stoic than chirpy.
"I've been playing basketball too long to be nervous," Monta Ellis said when asked if playing against his former team held special meaning for him after the Pacers' 107-81 victory over Dallas.
"We need W's; it's nothing personal," he said when asked again.
Told then that Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle and owner Mark Cuban had said before the game they were expecting a big game out of Ellis, who played the previous two seasons in Dallas, he paused.