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It has finally happened. The Milwaukee Bucks have lost a game, falling to the Dallas Mavericks 120-116 tonight at Fiserv Forum.
Things didn’t go as the Bucks had hoped to begin this one, with a red hot-shooting Dallas team coming right out of the gates (13-of-27 in the opening quarter, including seven threes). In fact, nearly everything went as wrong as it could’ve. Dallas’ defense, Milwaukee’s offense...every part of the game was going sour. The end result? The Mavericks would earn a 36-22 lead going into the second quarter.
A run kickstarted by Giannis Antetokounmpo would catapult the Bucks back into the thick of things midway through the second quarter, closing out Dallas’ lead. Kyle Korver would also get in on the action off the bench, hitting some timely shots to keep the Mavericks at bay. After two quarters, the Bucks were able to trim the deficit to just three, 59-56.
The Bucks would reclaim the lead early in the third quarter, only to have it stolen right from under their feet. The Mavericks would go on a 9-0 run to regain control and siphon off the Milwaukee momentum. Transitioning into the final quarter of regulation, Dallas led 86-74.
From that point on, it was clear that the winning streak was fading before our eyes. The Bucks just seemed out of sorts in all manners of the game. From fumbling passes to missing shots and everything in between, a groove was unable to be found. A pair of deeeeeeep Kristaps Porzingis threes would serve as the daggers that would ultimately kill the winning streak at 18, though the Bucks made it veryyyyy interesting down the stretch.
Stat That Stood Out
I mean, this was just an off-night all around for the Bucks. From Brook Lopez to Sterling Brown to Ersan Ilyasova, nearly everybody besides Giannis had a disappointing night. Looking at Lopez, it’s unfortunately becoming a common trend for him to not find the hoop. Tonight, he’d go 0-for-4 from deep, resulting in an overall 1-for-8 from the floor. We all know how much of an influence he can have when he’s a force on the offensive side of the ball, but unfortunately, it just hasn’t been there yet this season. However, tonight, there was no single player that served as the reason why Milwaukee fell. Just an off-night for everyone and they’ll look to rebound Thursday vs. the Lakers.