Bucks' balanced attack upends Mavericks


Reuters | Updated: 22-01-2019 09:31 IST | Created: 22-01-2019 09:31 IST
Bucks' balanced attack upends Mavericks

Giannis Antetokounmpo poured in a game-high 31 points and all five Milwaukee Bucks starters scored in double figures in securing a 116-106 home win against the Dallas Mavericks in a Martin Luther King Day matinee. Antetokounmpo, 10 of 20 from the floor and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line, recorded his 32nd double-double of the season with a team-high 15 rebounds to go with five assists as the Bucks won for the fifth consecutive time and handed Dallas a fourth straight loss.

Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe added 21 points and Brook Lopez had 16 while making four of his seven 3-point attempts. Malcolm Brogdon, whose three 3-pointers in the third quarter helped the Bucks take a 92-84 lead after Dallas built its largest lead, 62-57, early in the period, contributed 19 points. Khris Middleton totaled 13. Dallas Rookie of the Year front-runner Luka Doncic recorded his first career triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, joining Philadelphia's Markelle Fultz as the only teenagers in NBA history to post a triple-double. Doncic, at 19 years and 327 days old, is 10 days older than was Fultz when the latter accomplished the feat last April.

Doncic was only 6 of 17 from the floor and 2 of 5 from beyond the arc, however. His first made 3-pointer gave him 107 on the year, a new Mavs rookie record. But it was the Bucks doing the real damage with a 30-15 run in third quarter to regain control. After seeing their deficit balloon to 104-87 with 7:12 to go in the game, the Mavs put together an 11-0 run to make it 104-98 with 3:56 to go. Later, Doncic completed a three-point play to shrink the Bucks' cushion to 106-101 with 3:05 left.

But an emphatic, one-handed throw-down by Antetokounmpo on the ensuing possession made it a seven-point margin that the Bucks would not relinquish. As has become a familiar refrain for Dallas, Doncic didn't get consistent offensive help. Fellow rookie Jalen Brunson had 16 points while Wesley Matthews and DeAndre Jordan each had 15, but Harrison Barnes scored just eight points on 4-for-15 shooting, including 0 of 8 from deep.

--Field Level Media

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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