Was Ellis motivated by Hayward posting up?

OAKLANDMonta Ellis came into Thursdays game against theJazz in an awful shooting slump, just 12-for-43 from the field (27.9 percent)over the previous three games.Against Utah, he broke out with a 33-point night on13-for-21 shooting from the field, helping the Warriors to a 119-101 victory,their second straight.Who knows what got Ellis going? Hell never tell. Sometimesthe shots go down and sometimes they dont, hell say. Its never anything thedefense does, or so Ellis always will maintain.
But somethingor someonegot Ellis going against Utah,and it just might have been the Jazz trying to run their offense through GordonHaywardon the low block, with Ellis guarding him.Hayward is in his just his second season and isnt much of alow-post player. Ellis is a seven-year veteran who has guarded the best in thegame over the yearsKobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, to name a few and he had to be at least a little bit offended how Utah was going about itsbusiness.In the third period, the Jazz fed the Warriors a steady dietof Hayward in the low post, and the result was that Ellis, his defender, had a16-point quarter. Of course, Ellis wouldnt go there with where his motivationcame from.RELATED: Monta Ellis game logs
But backcourt mate Stephen Curry doesnt have to be astight-lipped. So, the question to Curry was this: Do you think it (ticked) offEllis that the Jazz tried to attack him with Hayward?Im sure it does, Curry said. Hes been in the leagueseven years and thats usually a rookie or second-year guy as a target everypossession. Theyre not running the plays they normally run (when postingHayward) to execute their offense. Theyre trying to do something theyre notused to and run it through a wing player down on the block. If we get stops,then theyre going to be out of rhythm.Monta does his job on the block.And Ellis did it on the other end of the floor, too, maybewith a little incentive from Hayward and Utah coach Tyrone Corbin.