The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Bucks 118-112 in Milwaukee on April 3.
Luka Doncic led the Mavericks to defeat the defending champions and their two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Doncic scored 32 points and matched a season-high with 15 assists while adding eight rebounds. Antetokounmpo led his team with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
“Obviously, when you play against superstars like Giannis today, you always have extra motivation,” Doncic said. “He’s a champion, a two-time MVP.”
Doncic extended his streak of scoring at least 30 points to a career-best five consecutive games. The 30-point, 15-assist performance was his third this season — as many as the rest of the NBA has combined.
“He’s one of the most talented players in the league, one of the most talented players probably ever to play this game,” Antetokounmpo said of Doncic. “We tried to make it tough for him, but he played well.”
Doncic has done well against Milwaukee during his career; in six games against the Bucks, Doncic has averaged 26.8 points, 11.3 assists, and 9.2 rebounds with three triple-doubles.
Dallas once again showed their determination, overcoming a double-digit lead for an NBA-best 17th come-from-behind win this season.
The Bucks started 8-of-16 from three-point range, and the Mavericks trailed by 10 points, 35-25, after an Antetokounmpo hook shot in the opening minute of the second quarter. However, Dallas remained poised, and their defense strengthened as Milwaukee made only 7-of-26 three-pointers the remainder of the game.
“It’s just a calm sense of steady,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “There’s no panic.”
It was Kidd’s first game in Milwaukee as a visiting head coach since the end of his own Bucks tenure. Kidd coached the Bucks from 2015 to 2018 and is now in his first season as the head coach in Dallas.
“On the road against the champs, it’s a hard place to win,” Kidd said. “This group in the locker room knows they can respond.”
The Mavericks “responded” by winning the second quarter 32-22 and taking a 57-55 lead into halftime. The two teams played nearly even in the third quarter as Dallas took a three-point lead into the fourth.
In the fourth, Doncic had 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, and one steal to power Dallas past Milwaukee in the clutch. Doncic usually rests on the bench for around the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, but he came in just over two minutes into the final quarter on April 3.
The Bucks had taken a one-point lead, but the Mavericks outscored Milwaukee by seven points the rest of the game after Doncic returned. Doncic scored or assisted on each of Dallas’ first 11 points of the final quarter.
Doncic made a difference immediately as he sparked an 8-0 run. He hit a three-pointer to put the Mavericks back ahead 93-91 with 9:04 left, followed it with a pair of free throws just over a minute later to make the score 95-91, then capped the run by assisting Dorian Finney-Smith on a corner three-pointer to make it 98-91 with 7:20 left. Finney-Smith finished with 11 points and six assists.
Antetokounmpo converted a pair of free throws to cut the margin back to five, but Doncic assisted Reggie Bullock for a corner three-pointer that extended Dallas’ lead back to 101-93 with 6:55 remaining. Bullock finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.
“He’s able to pick apart whatever a defense is throwing at him,” said Jalen Brunson of Doncic. Brunson scored 15 points for the Mavericks.
Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday made a three-pointer to cut the Mavericks’ lead back to 101-98 midway through the fourth quarter, but Dwight Powell responded for Dallas by scoring a three-point play to make it 104-98 with 5:52 remaining. The margin would not get closer than five the rest of the game.
Powell finished one point short of his career-high with 22 points while bringing in 13 rebounds.
Down the stretch, Dallas went to the free-throw line 11 times and converted 10 of them, including six from Doncic, to seal the win. Doncic earned three free throw attempts after officials said he was fouled on a three-point shot by Holiday. The Bucks challenged the call, but the foul stood after replays showed Holiday’s hand grazed Doncic’s head. Doncic hit all three free throws, and the Mavericks took a 109-101 lead with 4:47 remaining.
“Jrue told me after the game, ‘You’re welcome for the haircut,'” Doncic joked postgame. “But he got me a little bit, though. I think that’s a foul.”
Dallas will now conclude the regular season with three games against teams below .500 before they will have a week off to prep for the playoffs.