Mavs Can’t Finish Late, Fall To Bucks, 112-109

The Dallas Mavericks came into Friday night’s game against Milwaukee Bucks having won four consecutive games, but that win streak was snapped, as they weren’t able to hold on in crunch time. The Bucks ended up winning the closely-contested game, 112-109.

The Mavs had a two-point lead with under three minutes to play in this one, but they were unable to add to that lead, despite having the chance to do so. Although Giannis Antetokounmpo is Milwaukee’s MVP candidate, it was the clutch three-point shooting of his secondary star Khris Middleton that helped the Bucks put the Mavs away in the final minutes. With 1.6 seconds remaining, and the Bucks up 112-109, Brook Lopez missed his second free through to give the Mavs one final chance, but Luka Doncic wasn’t able to make the full-court heave to tie the game at the buzzer.

Doncic finished this one with 28 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds while shooting 50% from three. However, he was just 1-of-7 from the three-point line and 3-of-7 from the free throw line. Doncic’s co-star, Kristaps Porzingis, had an offensive first half to forget, but came around in the second half and finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in just his second game back from his knee rehab.

Overall, the Mavs showed great fight in this game, given that they were down five key players and playing the best team in the Eastern Conference on the road, but that won’t make them feel any better about the loss. Clutch losses plagued the Mavs all last season, and they’ve now had a couple of them again this season early on. As this roster continues to try to get back to full strength, Mavs’ newcomers like Wes Iwundu and Josh Green will keep getting valuable experience that should pay off later in the season.

The Mavs will now fly home after a two-game road trip to face Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls. Doncic missed the Mavs’ first matchup with the Bulls with a strained quad, and Dallas ended up losing 118-108, despite a 31-point outburst from Jalen Brunson. After being undermanned for over a week now due to the NBA’s Covid-19 protocols, the Mavs hope to get back key players in Brunson, Jason Richardson and Dorian Finney-Smith very soon.