Well, in a game that absolutely nobody wants to remember, the Bucks eked out a win against the Dallas Mavericks in a game that had no right being that close. Giannis and Kyle Kuzma led the charge in the scoring column, combining for 56 points. Dallas was led by Cooper Flagg, who dropped 26 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.
It was a brick-fest to start from both teams, but the Bucks eventually got going from three to take a 14-5 lead at the first timeout; Giannis threw some absolute dimes to get his teammates open as the Mavs swarmed him. The Mavericks, powered by Brandon Williams, then increased their defensive intensity to go on a 9-2 run, forcing Doc to call a timeout. That timeout did very little, with Dallas proceeding to go on an 8-0 run not long after, with Klay Thompson nailing consecutive transition threes. A Bobby Portis corner triple steadied the Bucks’ ship slightly, as the Mavs led 31-27 after one.
Giannis attempted, and made, his first shot early in the second (a ferocious dunk), and then followed it up with another big slam on the following possession. The Bucks then went cold for a few possessions, allowing the Mavs to extend their lead to seven in the early going, but two AJ Green triples spurred an 8-2 Milwaukee run to tie the game at 39 with 7:25 remaining. Giannis exited the game not long after that, and Ryan Rollins picked up the slack with a personal 5-0 run. From there, things went pear-shaped for the visitors, with turnovers and poor offensive possessions galore, ending the period with the Mavs holding a 57-53 advantage.
AJ Green buried a three to start the half, but it mainly went downhill from there. Giannis became frustrated by not receiving foul calls and began looking disinterested on both ends; he rushed on offence and his positioning on defence was horrible. The Bucks did not score for over three minutes and looked completely discombobulated out there as the Mavs extended their edge to 10. Cole Anthony continued his horrid night after four first-half turnovers, taking a bunch of dumb shots, as the Mavs took an 88-79 lead into the final frame.
Things didn’t get better for Milwaukee to open the final frame, with Giannis committing consecutive turnovers to allow the Mavs to increase their lead to 13 as Doc called an early timeout. The Bucks went cold for a period after that, but fortunately, so did the Mavs. Milwaukee then took advantage of that lull and went on a serious run, eliminating the deficit and taking a six-point advantage with five minutes remaining, behind contributions from Bobby Portis, Kyle Kuzma, and Giannis. The Mavs then took advantage of really sloppy offence from the Bucks (as they are wont to do!) to take a one-point lead, but the Bucks wrestled it back and Giannis was at the line to shoot two with 1:09 on the clock to put them up three—Mavs timeout. Cooper Flagg was able to get to the basket and draw the foul on Kuzma to reduce Milwaukee’s lead to one with 1:00 left. The Bucks then had yet another horrible offensive possession, allowing Cooper Flagg to score in transition, which was then followed by (you guessed it!) another bad offensive possession and a Giannis missed three. But wait, there’s more! Kuzma then stole it on the ensuing possession to put the Bucks up three, only for Giannis to stupidly foul PJ Washington on his three (I nearly had a conniption at this point). However, Washington missed the second and had to miss the third intentionally; the Bucks grabbed the rebound and won in a gross fashion.
Milwaukee’s defensive rebounding issues were on full display tonight, yet again. The Mavs grabbed 16 O-boards to the Bucks’ 8.
