{"id":371205,"date":"2025-11-11T09:13:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T09:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371205\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T09:13:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T09:13:23","slug":"mavericks-vs-bucks-recap-dallas-drops-tough-116-114-loss-to-milwaukee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371205\/","title":{"rendered":"Mavericks vs. Bucks Recap: Dallas drops tough 116-114 loss to Milwaukee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dallas Mavericks (3-8) found yet another way to pull defeat from the jaws of victory on Monday night in their 116-113 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks (7-4) at American Airlines Center.<\/p>\n

The Bucks came into Dallas in a vulnerable spot, on the second night of a back-to-back set in a game in which Giannis Antetokounmpo was listed as questionable on the injury report. The Mavs were still without big men Dereck Lively II (knee) and Anthony Davis (calf), who have missed the last six and eight games, respectively.<\/p>\n

The Mavs made a concerted effort to crowd Antetokounmpo by committee all night long, and it paid dividends, for three quarters and change. He turned the ball over five times in the face of double-team after double-team, but still found enough space to score 15 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Even playing one of the team\u2019s most consistent games of the season, the Mavericks found a way to lose in the game\u2019s final seconds. P.J. Washington missed two of three free throws with a chance to tie the game with one second left on the clock, after the lead changed hands five times in the game\u2019s final three minutes.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s hit some of the high points and ride through some of the low ones.<\/p>\n

At one point almost halfway through the first quarter, as the Mavs nursed their wounds amid yet another sluggish start (1-of-10 shooting in the game\u2019s first five-plus minutes) to a game and down 14-6 at the time, the broadcast team offered maybe the saddest talking point Mavs fans have ever been subjected to. The Mavs had climbed all the way \u201cup to 29th in offensive rating\u201d as of Saturday\u2019s narrow 111-105 win at the cellar-dwelling Washington Wizards<\/a>, play-by-play man Mark Followill proclaimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cProgress, baby,\u201d yuck-monkey Jeff \u201cSkin\u201d Wade said, unironically.<\/p>\n

\u201cBaby steps,\u201d was Devin Harris\u2019 response.<\/p>\n

Look, I get it. These guys are paid by the team to be homers and offer the team\u2019s point of view throughout the broadcast. They are not neutral observers.<\/p>\n

But this is how far the Mavericks have fallen. It\u2019s all of a sudden notable that the team is no longer the worst offensive black hole in the NBA. They are merely the second-worst. Huzzah!<\/p>\n

Dallas got it going a following that first-quarter timeout, though.<\/p>\n

After the Bucks\u2019 12-0 run to build that early 14-6 lead, the Mavs responded. It was shades of the slow start the team climbed out from on Saturday in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

Dallas went on a 25-10 run over the next six minutes, and along the way, took a 24-22 lead on Klay Thompson\u2019s second of two 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions with 2:33 left in the first. He scored eight straight points off the bench at one point as part of the early run.<\/p>\n

The Mavs\u2019 first-quarter run and their 31-27 lead at the end of one was built on keeping Antetokounmpo out of the paint. In fact, Antetokounmpo did not even attempt a shot until 58 seconds into the second quarter. Monday was Antetokounmpo\u2019s first scoreless first quarter since April 2022. He came into the game averaging a league-leading 33.8 points through the first 10 games of the season.<\/p>\n

He threw down a couple of dunks in the first two minutes of the second quarter, but had another attempt inside blocked by Daniel Gafford as the Mavericks\u2019 zone defense clogged up the middle, where Antetokounmpo tends to do his most violent damage.<\/p>\n

But even keeping Antetokounmpo bottled up for most of the first half yielded the bare minimum of results. The Mavs\u2019 offense reverted back to brutal for a stretch, and all it took was a couple of 3-pointers from Bucks guard A.J. Green and a 1-of-2 trip to the free throw line from Antetokounmpo to ignite a 13-2 Bucks\u2019 run that tied the game, 39-39, with 7:26 left before the half. The Bucks took the lead, up 44-41, on another 3-ball from Ryan Rollins, who came into the game averaging 16.9 points per game.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks defense built a wall in the lane to hold Antetokounmpo to just nine points in the first half and take a 57-53 lead into the break. Long stretches of the first half very much looked like a flat team on the second night of a back-to-back set against one of the worst offenses professional basketball has to offer, but Mavs fans will live with Monday\u2019s first half. At least the team appeared to be playing with purpose against the Bucks.<\/p>\n

\"DALLAS,<\/a><\/p>\n

DALLAS, TX – NOVEMBER 10: Cooper Flagg #32 of the Dallas Mavericks drives to the basket during the game against the Milwaukee Bucks on November 10, 2025 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Tim Heitman\/NBAE via Getty Images) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Flagg is finding his way, and his first 11 games have been largely encouraging, if not spectacular. He found some success on both ends of the floor in the first half, leading all scorers with 12 points, pulling down five rebounds and taking two steals on defense. He hit a nice-looking pull-up jumper with 1:49 left in the half, then a couple of free throws that extended the Dallas lead to 57-51 with 44 seconds to play. Both his first two steals led to transition baskets the other way, as the Mavericks sprinted out to a 17-2 lead in transition scoring in the first half.<\/p>\n

Flagg picked up right where he left off to open the second half. He made a strong drive through traffic to put the Mavs back in front 62-60 with 9:35 left in the third before stepping into his first 3-point make near the top of the key two possessions later to give Dallas a 65-63 lead. His spin-cycle move and tear drop in the lane in secondary transition with 2:35 left in the third gave him 19 points and put the Mavs up 81-71, their first double-digit lead of the game.<\/p>\n

The Bucks scored eight in a row early in the fourth with Flagg on the bench to trim Dallas\u2019 lead to 93-88. When he came back in with about eight minutes left in the game, he immediately found Cisse alone underneath for an alley-oop slam to keep the Mavs\u2019 noses in front, 99-95, with 7:41 left to play.<\/p>\n

Flagg had his best game of the season so far, pouring in 26 points and nabbing nine boards to go along with two steals and a blocked shot in the heartbreaking loss.<\/p>\n

While Flagg steadied the ship all night long with solid play on both ends of the floor, the timely playmaking of Brandon Williams, Moussa Cisse, Max Christie and P.J. Washington, before he went to the bench with his fourth foul early in the third quarter, kept the Mavs afloat at different times throughout the game.<\/p>\n

Cisse recovered to block a spinning attempt from Antetokounmpo midway through the third quarter after throwing down a vicious slam on an alley-oop from Naji Marshall a minute earlier that put the Mavericks up 70-67 at the time. D\u2019Angelo Russell, in the midst of an otherwise quiet night at the office, lulled his defender to sleep and pulled up for a clever 3-point make late in the third to give Dallas an 88-77 advantage with 43 seconds left in the third.<\/p>\n

For three quarters, the game plan of lulling the Bucks to sleep seemed to be working, as the Mavs took an 88-79 lead into the fourth.<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo turned the ball over twice in the first minute and a half of the fourth. Washington forced a bad pass from Antetokounmpo that Russell picked off, and when Russell found Washington streaking down the court in transition, the ensuing transition bucket put Dallas up 92-79 and forced a Milwaukee timeout.<\/p>\n

After a quick 8-0 Bucks\u2019 run, Williams lifted his third giant-killing tear-drop drive of the game off the glass for a banking score to help stop the bleeding and preserve a 96-90 lead.<\/p>\n

But the Bucks went 5-of-6 from 3-point range in the middle minutes of the fourth quarter after shooting just 9-of-27 from deep through the first three quarters. The outside touch from Bobby Portis, Kyle Kuzma and, yes, even Antetokounmpo brought the Bucks all the way back and ignited a 29-10 Milwaukee run down the stretch. Antetokounmpo\u2019s running finger roll in the lane with 5:13 to play put the Bucks up 108-102 after the Mavs\u2019 92-79 lead looked relatively secure just five minutes earlier.<\/p>\n

After going scoreless in the first quarter, Antetokounmpo piled up 28 points in the final three to lead Milwaukee all the way back. His missed dunk with 3:27 left led to a corner 3-ball from Christie that brought the Mavs back to within 108-107, and Flagg\u2019s short pull-up jumper pulled Dallas back in front, 109-108, a minute later in what could have been the first signature moment of his young career, but an even bigger moment came in the game\u2019s final minute.<\/p>\n

Flagg spun past Gary Trent Jr., and rose up with authority, through Antetokounmpo\u2019s outstretched arms at the rim for the tough bucket inside to give the Mavs a 113-112 lead with 29 seconds to play. Rollins scored at the other end on a drive with 17 seconds left, while the Dallas defense concentrated on Antetokounmpo, then Kuzma took a steal on an inbound pass on a play that could have been called a loose-ball foul as he defended Flagg with 15 seconds and scored in transition to put Milwaukee up 116-113.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was really good,\u201d Jason Kidd said of Flagg\u2019s performance in his postgame press conference. \u201cHe plays to win, and no matter who\u2019s in front of him, he\u2019s going to challenge. That was a big-time play for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuzma\u2019s bucket in the waning seconds gave him 26 points, to match Flagg, in the win.<\/p>\n

Dallas had one last gasp, when Antetokounmpo fouled Washington with one second left in the act of shooting a fadeaway 3-point prayer, but Washington missed two of the three ensuing free throws as what looked like an instant classic instead ended with a thud.<\/p>\n

All we can say is, Fire Nico.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Mavericks (3-8) found yet another way to pull defeat from the jaws of victory on Monday night…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":371206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,85576,146057,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-371205","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-mavericks-game-coverage","11":"tag-mavericks-scores","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-tx","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115530302315749570","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}