Mavericks' Ellis returns from calf injury against Thunder

Monta Ellis only needed a one-game breather to rest his injured right calf. 

The Dallas Mavericks guard is back in the starting lineup for Wednesday's contest against the playoff-hopeful Oklahoma City Thunder, who enter the night 2.5 games ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans for eighth place in the Western Conference. 

Ellis, who sat out Sunday's loss to the Indiana Pacers, is averaging a team-best 19.1 points and 1.9 steals in 73 games. The missed contest ended a string of 237 consecutive games played for Ellis, which was the second-longest active streak in the NBA.