Mavs lose Chandler, Ellis to injuries; not expected to play Wednesday

Monday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers couldn't have gone much worse for the Dallas Mavericks.

In addition to getting drilled by a fellow Western Conference team in a playoff position, the Mavericks lost Tyson Chandler and Monta Ellis to injuries five minutes into the first quarter. Both limped to the locker room and never returned.

Chandler sprained his left ankle when landing awkwardly after taking a foul from Spencer Hawes, fighting his way through it for a minute before asking out of the game. Ellis, meanwhile, has a nondescript strain of his left hip, according to head coach Rick Carlisle, and will undergo an MRI on Tuesday.

"Hopefully it's not going to be bad," Dirk Nowitzki said of the injuries. "It's nothing we can control now. We don't really expect either to play on Wednesday and we've got to be better."

The Mavericks, who entered Monday having won two consecutive games, also remain without starting point guard Rajon Rondo, who won't return until after the All-Star break at the earliest due to a broken nose and orbital fracture. With the team thin on bodies, they're expected to sign Bernard James to a 10-day contract before Wednesday's game.

Chandler has arguably been the team's best player through the season's first half, anchoring a surprising middle-of-the-pack defense despite a roster with obvious defensive holes while averaging 10.7 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. The team's defense has been 3.4 points per-100 possessions better with him on the floor, even though he plays the bulk of his minutes with multiple low-quality defenders in the starting unit.

The big man's ability to set solid screens and finish on his rolls to the basket has also been a key component of Dallas's third-ranked offense. Chandler is shooting 68.4 percent from the floor, and the team's offense improves by 1.4 points per-100 possessions when he hits the court, too.

Ellis, meanwhile, is the team's leading scorer and the offense's main initiator, especially with Rondo out, as Ellis uses a team-high 28.5 percent of the Mavericks' possessions when he's on the court. He's averaging 20 points and 4.5 assists, posting a player efficiency rating of 18.5, his highest since 2010-11.

Suffice to say, the Mavs can ill afford to be without either player for an extended period of time in the compact, unforgiving Western Conference.