Monta Ellis Injury: Updates on Mavericks Guard's Hamstring and Return

Updates from Sunday, Feb. 9

Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com reports Monta Ellis' current status for tonight's game:

Updates from Saturday, Feb. 8

ESPN's Tim MacMahon has an update on Ellis' injury:

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Dallas Mavericks guard Monta Ellis suffered only a light strain of his right hamstring and hopes to play on the team's three-game road trip, a league source said.

The Mavs will update Ellis' status after the team's Sunday morning shootaround in Boston.

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Original Text

Dallas Mavericks guard Monta Ellis will have an MRI done on his strained hamstring on Saturday morning, per Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com:

Ellis called the problem "minor":

The injury will come as a bit of a surprise as the 28-year-old is only one of two Mavericks players to have played in all of the team's regular-season games this year, per Mike Peasley of ESPNDallas.com:

Ellis has rolled back the clock this year. Although his 19.4 points and 5.8 assists a game aren't career highs, he's become a very efficient scorer and capable defender.

With Dallas only 2.5 games ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth spot, it will be important that his injury does turn out to only be minor. The Grizzlies have found their form again with Marc Gasol on the floor, and they'll easily close the gap if the Mavs star is to falter at all.