The Milwaukee Bucks‘ toughest road trip came to an ugly end with their 116-101 loss to the Dallas Mavericks Thursday night at American Airlines Center.
As they were once again without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo as he continues to suffer from knee soreness, the Bucks fought to stay within striking distance and match the Mavericks’ firepower, all of which was led by Luka Doncic.
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Even with Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton playing below their standard, the Bucks gave the Mavericks more than they can handle for the first three quarters. But Dallas stormed back in the final frame to finish out the night with a win and Milwaukee closed out their road trip out west at 3-3.
So without further ado, let’s explore what all stood out from the Milwaukee Bucks’ loss to the Dallas Mavericks from Thursday night.
Fourth quarter drought stings Milwaukee Bucks in loss to Mavericks
The Bucks closed out the third quarter with an exceptional 12-0 run in the final two minutes that gave them an 84-80 edge going into the final frame. Milwaukee had even turned the tide by irritating Doncic, thanks to the brilliant exploits of Thanasis Antetokounmpo as he continues giving the Bucks quite the emotional and energetic lift.
But for all of the work they did to get to that point, the Bucks couldn’t have closed out their road trip on a worse note with their incredibly brutal fourth quarter.
Their offense had completely dried up not long after the fourth quarter tipped off and permanently lost their lead at the 6:43 mark in the period. The Bucks had just made two buckets within that critical stretch from the 8:02 mark to the 4:02 mark.
For their entire fourth quarter, the Bucks shot 25 percent on their 25 shots from the field and went 2-for-10 from beyond the arc.
As their offense plummeted, the Bucks finished with their shooting performance of the season as seen by their 44 effective field goal percentage and 47.2 true shooting percentage. Some of that can be contributed due to Antetokounmpo’s absence, especially as the Bucks shot 11-for-29 on shots attempted in the restricted area (39.3 percent), per NBA.com/stats.
Given the events that preceded it and the Bucks’ fourth quarter troubles on their road trip, it was tough to see them walk into similar pitfalls yet again.