Mavericks commit just four turnovers in victory over Bucks

Protecting the ball was critical Monday night, and the Dallas Mavericks used that protection to forge their way to a hard-fought 103-93 triumph over the Milwaukee Bucks before a sellout crowd of 20,300 at American Airlines Center.

The Mavericks tied a franchise low by turning the ball over just four times, and the Bucks didn’t score any points off those turnovers. Dallas, meanwhile, turned 18 Milwaukee turnovers into 26 points en route to improving to 18-13 on the season and 2-0 on this three-game homestand.

But it was still no easy task for the Mavs.

Milwaukee tied the score at 89-all on a 7-footer by Khris Middleton with 4:49 to go. But from there, the Mavs ended the game on a 14-4 run.

“We got timely stops when we needed them,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “But the key to the game is we only turned it over four times. We got outrebounded (52-34), which is not good, but our low turnovers mitigated that somewhat. Look, we survived a difficult game.”

After the game’s lone tie, Wesley Matthews pumped in consecutive 3-pointers and Raymond Felton scored on a driving layup to put the Mavs ahead 97-91. The Mavs then made a crucial defensive stop as Chandler Parsons took a charge from Middleton with 44.8 seconds remaining.

The Bucks kept coming and fought back within four points, but an uncontested fast-break layup by Devin Harris padded the Mavs’ cushion to 99-93 with 11 seconds to go.

The Mavs shot 45.2 percent from the field overall and converted 10 of 22 from 3-point range. They also managed to survive on a night when Dirk Nowitzki was just 3-of-15 from the field and scored a season-low seven points against the team that drafted him ninth overall in 1998.

“Dirk had a rough shooting night, and we had to grind to win it,” Carlisle said. “But we knew it was going to be this kind of game. They’re a young, aggressive, attacking team that keeps coming at you, and you’ve got to admire the way they play.”

Matthews led the Mavs with 22 points. He was 6 of 10 from the field, including 5 of 7 from 3-point territory.

Zaza Pachulia notched 17 points and eight rebounds, Felton added 14 points and Chandler Parsons scored 13.

J.J. Barea hit his only 3-pointer of the game in the third period, and Felton followed with an 8-footer off the glass as the Mavs rolled to their largest lead at 74-61.

Pachulia’s basket inside padded the lead to 59-47 late in the second quarter. The Mavs would eventually settle on a 60-51 lead at halftime.

Playing against his former team, Pachulia got the Mavs off to a wonderful start by scoring nine points and making all four of his field goal attempts in the opening quarter — which ended with Dallas nursing a 34-24 lead.

Parsons, back in the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 12 against Washington, also flourished early with seven first-quarter points.

Since Barea scored 58 points in his previous two games, the Bucks decided to give him some extra defensive attention. Thus, Barea went scoreless in the first period, but was able to dish out four assists and finished the night with eight points on 3-of-8 shooting.

Jerryd Bayless led the Bucks with 19 points, Middleton had 15 and former Mavs guard O.J. Mayo finished with 13.

This story was originally published December 28, 2015 at 10:55 PM with the headline "Mavericks commit just four turnovers in victory over Bucks."