Ranking Dallas Mavericks' 10 Best Highlights of the 2014-15 Season so Far

The Dallas Mavericks are known for being ruthlessly efficient. They lead the league in points per 100 possessions and show no signs of slowing down. But this offensive machine isn't one that is fueled by a frenetic pace or superstars. Instead, it uses ball movement, smart shots and lots of pick-and-rolls.

Most of the time, it's not jump-out-of-your-seat exciting.

But that's most of the time. Even though they might seem vanilla, the Mavs are more than capable of putting a little "wow" into a game. 

So to make sure these "wow" plays get their due, we're going to show you the 10 best from the year so far. Now, these don't have to all be dunks or buzzer-beaters. We're simply looking for plays that make fans want to rewind and watch again, the plays that deserve to be in a 2014-15 Dallas Mavericks highlight reel.

10. Run DMC

Okay, maybe this isn't a play, and it's probably cheating. But if we're doing a Dallas Mavericks power ranking that involves videos, this piece of art could not be left out.

Don't ever say these Mavs don't know how to have fun.

Big shoutout to the Mavericks' marketing team or whoever got this together, and I'll give an even bigger shoutout to the front office for signing Chandler Parsons instead of Luol Deng (or whoever else they might have been thinking about). If the team hadn't signed Parsons, we wouldn't be able to have a corny Run DMC parody like this, and watching Dirk Nowitzki rap might never get old.

9. Parsons Gets off on the Right Foot

This game between the Mavs and the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 28 was the first nationally televised contest of the 2014-15 NBA season. As is normal for a Spurs-Mavs game, it was full of big names going at it.

Nobody expected that it would be Chandler Parsons who would come away with the play of the night.

The score was tied 2-2, and neither team was playing well. It was a very boring start to the NBA year. Out of nowhere, Parsons uses a screen by Tyson Chandler to get into the paint and stuff one on Tim Duncan's head.

It wasn't quite a poster, but then again, not too many people get to posterize the immortal Tim Duncan. For Parsons' first points as a Maverick, these will do just fine.

8. Monta Ellis Takes over Against the Chicago Bulls

By now, everybody has heard Monta Ellis' famous "Monta Ellis have it all" quote from his time in Milwaukee. And if you haven't, please check it out. There might not be a better encapsulation of Monta Ellis' belief in himself than this clip.

Ellis can be maddening to watch, if only because he's got so much self-confidence that he thinks he can make any shot. Whether they be fadeaways, floaters amongst the trees or deep threes, Monta isn't afraid to try just about anything.

The good news is that there are nights when he really does have it all.

In this double-overtime game on Dec. 2 against the Chicago Bulls, Ellis had a game-high 38 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter and overtime periods. He not only drilled three free throws to send the contest to overtime, but he also hit a 27-foot dagger in double OT to put this one away.

This was a night where Dirk was 8-22 shooting from the floor, and Chicago managed to get Dallas out of sorts offensively. Without Monta's clutch performance, there's simply no way the Mavs would have gotten the win.

7. Chandler Parsons Drops a Dime to Brandan Wright

The biggest thing that Chandler Parsons was supposed to bring to the table in Dallas wasn't any one skill in particular. It was his ability to do many different things well and play multiple roles that made him such a tantalizing addition.

And one of the things he does very well is pass the ball.

This play starts with one of Parsons' signature pump fakes. Sometimes they're unnecessary, but it was used perfectly in this case. He then draws the big man over and casually flips the ball behind his head to the diving Brandan Wright.

It made what looked like an ordinary drive into a "wow" play, one that got nearly all the players on the Mavs' bench on their feet.

6. Al-Farouq Aminu's Putback Jam

Whereas Parsons' contributions are thanks to his diverse skill set, his backup, Al-Frouq Aminu, really has one defining characteristic: The dude is a freak athlete.

Aminu has a great motor, too, which only supplements his athleticism. He gets to the rebounds few others can, and this play is a perfect example.

There are a lot of players who would start trotting back on defense once they see J.J. Barea's shot go up. There are some who would go for the rebound but not be quick enough to get to the spot in time. There are fewer who can actually snare the rebound, and fewer still who can then tip the ball in.

Well, Aminu did all those things and managed to flush it, too.

Since Aminu is limited offensively, he's only playing 16.8 minutes per game. But if he can continue to stuff those minutes full of plays like this, Aminu should find himself some more consistent run as the year goes on.

5. Dirk Passes the Dream

This isn't a huge dunk, a crazy pass or anything like that. This play is one Dallas Mavericks fans have become accustomed to seeing over Dirk Nowitzki's 16 years in the league. 

It looks like just another one of Nowitzki's jumpers, but it means much more than that. With this shot, Dirk passed Hakeem Olajuwon on the NBA's all-time scoring list and moved into ninth place. He also became the highest-scoring foreign-born player in NBA history.

This isn't a sexy play, but it's a tribute to greatness, as nothing could seem more normal. Nowitzki hits the shot, acknowledges Jameer Nelson's pass and then jogs back down the court.

It was as if he had done it a thousand times before. And though he had hit that shot for years, none were quite as meaningful as this one.

4. Tyson Chandler's Emphatic Swat of Marcus Smart

As Dallas found out the hard way, players like Tyson Chandler don't grow on trees. He was a key contributor to the 2011 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks team, but the Mavs opted to let him walk in free agency.

Since then, they've been trying to replicate the defensive dynamo that is Tyson Chandler. They tried big after big after big, and none were the same.

So instead of reinventing the wheel, Dallas simply brought Chandler back.

And thank goodness it did. He's looked as athletic as ever, leading the league in dunks and averaging 1.43 blocks per game.

This block he had against Marcus Smart was more than athletic, though—it was downright ferocious.

It sure is great having you back, Tyson.

3. Al-Farouq Aminu Makes a Poster

It has been an awfully long time since anyone in a Mavericks uniform has done something like this.

This wasn't Al-Farouq Aminu catching a loafing big man on a slow rotation. This was one-on-one with Bismack Biyombo, a man who is averaging 3.8 blocks per 36 minutes. Biyombo saw Aminu coming and went up to meet him at the summit.

Chalk this one up to a win for Aminu.

Don't be surprised to see more plays like this from the former Wake Forest Demon Deacon. He already has a handful of awesome plays this season, and we're only 22 games in. Aminu has bounce and loves to use it.

Just don't expect him to top this. That's a little too much to ask.

2. Monta Ellis' Buzzer-Beater Downs the Bucks

As we talked about before, Ellis believes he can hit any shot. 

But did anyone ever think he was going to hit a hotly contested, spinning, one-legged, 18-foot, fadeaway buzzer-beater?

This is one of those shots that words can't do a good enough job of describing. It simply should not have gone in. He was-off balance, falling backwards as well as sideways. It looked like he wanted to get to the right wing, but Khris Middleton cut him off, so he was forced to improvise. 

Of course, despite all this, Ellis could not have been calmer when he shot. Even though it seemed out of control, his demeanor made it look as if this was a shot in the second quarter, not one that could decide the game.

Call it luck, call it skill, call it whatever you want. Just make sure you use the word "amazing" in there somewhere.

1. Brandan Wright Jams All over Kevin Seraphin

You didn't think we were going to forget about Brandan Wright, did you?

He's a man of many talents. Wright is a 6'10" leaper with a wingspan that goes on for days, but he is also incredibly efficient. He's currently sixth in the league according to ESPN's PER metric, and he finished 13th in that category last season.

Obviously, he's much more than a physical freak, and as someone whose skills have developed so much, sometimes we forget about his athleticism.

This play was a good reminder.

Ninety-five percent of NBA players couldn't come close to getting this ball, let alone flushing it over a defender. Brandan Wright isn't 95 percent of the NBA. He's got the length and leaping ability to snare this one and throw it down despite Kevin Seraphin's best efforts.

Even though he's only playing 18.8 minutes per game, Wright is sixth in the NBA with 34 dunks. The Mavs have made a habit of throwing him and Tyson Chandler plenty of alley-oops, giving Wright plenty of opportunities to showcase his skills.

That means more chances to make some more posters.