Bucks-Mavericks Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Jan 13 2012 12:24AM

The Dallas Mavericks did not worry too much when they lost their first three games. They also have not been overly excited about their current winning stretch.

Hoping to remain grounded, the Mavericks look for a fourth consecutive victory Friday night while trying to keep the Milwaukee Bucks winless on the road.

After going without a victory in its first three games against Miami, Denver and Oklahoma City, Dallas has regrouped to win six of eight and find its rhythm. However, the defending champs have managed to stay within the moment during their current three-game winning streak.

"It's early in the season," guard Delonte West told the Mavericks' official website.

Though Dallas (6-5) is averaging just 93.2 points, it's held its last eight opponents to 88.3 per game after yielding at least 104 in each of the first three contests.

"It's all about how we compete," coach Rick Carlisle said. "We're building some consistency with our competitiveness."

The Mavericks played fairly well defensively in a 90-85 win at Boston on Wednesday but needed a Dirk Nowitzki layup with 5.1 seconds left to go ahead for good.

"It's a fun situation to be in," said Nowitzki, who finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. "Everybody's looking at you and your team really depends on you, so I like to be in the position where I can make something happen."

Carlisle should like that his team has won three in a row without injured guard Jason Kidd and Nowitzki averaging 14.7 points during that span.

Nowitzki's 18.6 overall average is by far his lowest in 12 seasons.

West, who has started in place of Kidd in his first season with Dallas, had 12 points Wednesday and Jason Terry scored a team-high 18.

"We're getting a little more familiarity with our new guys and the challenge will be to carry this into Friday night," said Carlisle, who was ejected for picking up back-to-back technical fouls.

The Mavericks have lost two straight versus the Bucks (4-6), who are looking to avoid dropping their first seven road games for the first time since 2004-05.

Dallas had a seven-game home winning streak against Milwaukee snapped with a 103-99 defeat Dec. 13, 2010.

Nowitzki, who scored 30 in that contest, has averaged exactly that many points and 8.7 rebounds in his last three games against the Bucks.

After suffering through an 0-5 western trip, Milwaukee has won two in a row. Brandon Jennings scored 27 and Stephen Jackson added 25 in Thursday's 102-93 victory over Detroit.

Milwaukee has averaged 102.0 points on 48.5 percent shooting while going 4-0 at home. That's a drastic difference than on the road, where the Bucks are scoring just 88.8 per game and shooting 40.3 percent.

"We're not playing a very efficient game (on the road)," said Jackson, who has totaled 59 points on 21-of-34 shooting in the last two games.

Jennings had 23 points and 10 assists at Dallas last season.

Milwaukee's Scott Skiles became the 39th coach in NBA history to reach 400 victories Thursday.

Mavericks win 4th in a row, 102-76 over Bucks

By STEPHEN HAWKINS
Posted Jan 14 2012 12:11AM

DALLAS (AP) Dirk Nowitzki went over 23,000 career points without having to play too much for the surging Dallas Mavericks.

The defending NBA champions are finally on a roll.

Nowitzki became the 23rd NBA player to score 23,000 points before he and the rest of the Dallas starters sat on the bench the entire fourth quarter in a 102-76 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night. The Mavericks have won four in a row.

"Milestones are going to be great when I look back on my career in 10 or 15 years," Nowtitzki said. "But as of right now, I'm trying to help this team, and franchise, win as many games as I can. We've been playing better. That's all I'm worried about right now."

The Mavericks (7-5) started the season with lopsided losses at home on consecutive days nearly three weeks ago, then lost their first road game for an 0-3 start.

They have since won five in a row at home. They matched their season high in scoring against the Bucks, who had the lowest-scoring game by a Dallas opponent.

"The first two games were poor to say the least. After that, we were all embarrassed. We had to bounce back and kind of snap out of it," coach Rick Carlisle said. "We were in a two-game whatever you call it, hangover, Christmas funk. Reality hit us really quickly. ... It helped us get our mindset in the right direction. We came out fighting after that."

Jason Terry scored 17 points off the bench to lead the Mavs while starter Vince Carter had 16 for his highest-scoring game in Dallas. Roddy Beaubois had 15.

Nowitzki, a 10-time All-Star, has played all 1,005 of his career games over 14 seasons for Dallas.

He hit the milestone with 7:17 left in the first half. He played only 22 minutes and finished with 11 points, putting him at 23,008, third among active players behind Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett.

Brandon Jennings had 19 points and Shaun Livingston 15 for the Bucks (4-7), who are undefeated at home but now have an NBA-high seven road losses.

"We've been very energetic at home, but we board the plane and we're half-asleep out there," coach Scott Skiles said.

Milwaukee was without 7-foot center Andrew Bogut, who was out because of concussion-like symptoms.

Bogut fell backward and hit the back of his head on the floor while taking a charge during Thursday night's victory over Detroit. Skiles said Bogut failed a pregame check for concussion symptoms and was ruled out in accordance with the league's concussion policy.

With the Mavericks playing again at home Saturday night, before going to the West Coast to start a four-game road trip over six days, their starters got extended rest late with the game out of reach.

Carter had 11 of his 16 points while making his first five shots in the first 6 1/2 minutes of the game.

"I was just trying to give our team a little life at the start," Carter said. "You have to hit first because we've seen teams hit us first and it's effective."

Carter, the 13th-year pro that signed with Dallas last month, had a slam dunk on the opening possession. He had a driving layup, another slam and a 3-pointer before a reverse layup with 5:36 left in the first quarter put the Mavs up 18-13.

Dallas pushed ahead 74-47 on a 3-pointer by Nowitzki that capped a 14-0 run over a 4-minute span early in the third quarter before Jennings made a jumper.

The Bucks had a spurt of 10 consecutive points to get to 77-61 with 2:18 left in the third quarter. That was the closest they got.

After Rick Carlisle called a timeout, Terry had a steal. He missed the breakaway layup, but Roddy Beaubois had a follow slam that started a 13-2 spurt. By the time Terry ended that run with a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, Dallas led 90-63.

"They made a lot of shots, they got a big lead and they never looked back," Jennings said. "We've got to get a least one road win. Geez."

NOTES: Dallas led 60-45 at halftime, its highest-scoring half this season. ... Jason Kidd (lower back) missed his fourth consecutive game for Dallas, but is expected to play Saturday night. ... The 16 points by Carter were well short of his career high of 51. ... Bogut just returned Tuesday after missing four games to fly home to Australia to deal with a personal matter. The Bucks have now lost all five games he's missed.

Notebook: Mavericks 102, Bucks 76

By Dave Ivey, for NBA.com
Posted Friday January 13, 2012 11:37PM

THE FACTS: Dirk Nowitzki scored his 23,000th point and was one of five Mavericks in double figures as they overwhelmed the short-handed and sloppy Bucks, 102-76, on Friday night. Dallas, which has won four straight overall and five straight at home, got 17 points from Jason Terry, 16 from Vince Carter and 15 from Rodrigue Beaubois. Playing without Andrew Bogut due to concussion-related symptoms, Milwaukee dropped to 0-7 on the road. Brandon Jennings scored 19 and Shaun Livingston added 15 for the Bucks.

QUOTABLE: "We appeared to be slow and non-reactive. There are some teams you can get away with that for a quarter, quarter and a half, and it's not as glaring. But the way they share and shoot the ball, if [their shots] are going in, you know you're in trouble pretty quick."
-- Milwaukee head coach Scott Skiles.

THE STAT: The Mavericks produced their highest-scoring quarter (32 in the first) and half (60 in the first) and matched their highest-scoring game of the season. They shot 60.9 percent in the opening quarter, 57.9 percent in the first half and 52.0 percent for the game.

TURNING POINT: Any faint hopes Milwaukee had of hanging with the defending champs evaporated during a 14-0 Dallas run early in the third quarter. Nowitzki had seven points during that spurt, stretching the Mavericks' lead to 74-47 with a 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark.

QUOTABLE II: "On defense we're doing a good job of holding each other accountable and we feel like we can always do better at not letting the other team get in a flow."
-- Carter, after the Mavericks scored 33 points off 19 Milwaukee turnovers

HOT: Carter made his first five shots and scored 11 points in the first quarter, while Beaubois drained all four of his shots and scored nine points in the second quarter.

NOT: Subtract Jennings' 3-for-4 effort from 3-point range and the rest of the Bucks were a miserable 2-for-20 from downtown. In the second half, Milwaukee was 0-for-9 behind the arc and managed just 31 points on 28.9 percent shooting.

GOOD MOVE: With another game coming right up Saturday against Sacramento, Dallas was able to rest its key players. No starter played more than 22:19 and nobody played more than Terry (25.33).

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Nowitzki's 11 points boosted his career total to 23,008. He is just the 23rd player in NBA history to reach 23,000 and the third active player, with Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett. After reaching the milestone on a free throw with 7:17 left in the second quarter, Nowitzki received a standing ovation and saluted the crowd.

ROOKIE WATCH: Second-round pick Jon Leuer made his third consecutive start for the Bucks. The first-year forward from Wisconsin finished with two points and two boards in 12:44. Darington Hobson was 0-for-8 from the field (0-for-4 on treys) and Tobias Harris added six points on 1-for-6 shooting with four rebounds and four turnovers.

NOTABLE: Bogut reportedly struck his head while taking a charge in Thursday's victory against Detroit. He was unable to pass a league-mandated concussion test Friday and spent the night in the team hotel. Milwaukee also played without Mike Dunleavy (groin), Beno Udrih (left shoulder) and Luc Mbah a Moute (right knee). ... Dallas point guard Jason Kidd participated in some drills Friday and could return to the lineup Saturday against the Kings. He has missed the last four games with lower-back spasms. ... Recently acquired 7-footer Yi Jianlian scored his first points as a Maverick when he swished a 16-footer with 4:27 left. ... Dallas had a 42-24 edge in points in the paint and a 55-33 advantage in bench scoring.

UP NEXT: For the Mavericks, Saturday vs. Sacramento, Monday @ Los Angeles Lakers, Wednesday @ Los Angeles Clippers. For the Bucks, Monday @ Philadelphia, Tuesday vs. Denver, Friday at New York.

• Bucks: Dunleavy, Mbah a Moute
• Mavericks: Kidd, Williams

• Bucks: Jackson
• Mavericks: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #36 David Jones, #50 Olandis Poole
• Attendance: 20112
• Duration: 2:02