Mavs Make NBA History - Not Always A Good Thing Despite Win Over Bucks

By Crystal Carroll

After a buzzer beating overtime in their last meeting, the Mavs were hoping to pull tonight's game out with a little more room between the two teams, however as the clock in the fourth ticked down, the thoughts of a repeat overtime started swirling. Andrew Bogut was making it tough for Mavs fans to swallow late as he was having a near perfect night ultimately shooting 13 for 14 from the floor.

But the Mavs rose to the challenge of Bogut, who ended with a game with a game high and new career high 32 points, and closed out with another 1 point win, the 10th of the season capping off a 108 - 107 night to write another page in NBA history books. A fun sidebar but a menacing thought for Mavs fans wishing there was a little more distance in those numbers.

The teams were very evenly matched, a far cry from the blow out win over the Knicks which ended the 11 days on the road for Dallas. Despite being outshot from the floor by a narrow margin (53.3% Milwaukee to 51.3% Dallas), the Mavericks were able to spear head an attack from beyond the arc where they shot 10 for 18 with Jason Terry leading the way as he bucketed 12 of his 21 with effortless threes. While Dallas took the brunt of the Bucks inside power they were awarded only 17 attempts from the charity stripe while Milwaukee shot 22.

It was an exciting game til the very end with Carlos Delfino pulling the Bucks into contention down the stretch with his hot hand from beyond the arc, where he was 4 for 5 on the night, including one which might have been closer to the half court mark than the arc.

Dirk Nowitzki led the charge of the Mavs as he put down 28 points and 8 rebounds. Jason Kidd recorded yet another points and assists double-double, the only of the night as he managed 12 assists and 11 points while Shawn Marion added 12 with 5 of 8 shooting from the floor.

Bench play played a big part for both teams tonight as the Milwaukee bench put in 35 and the Mavs countered with 34, again setting the bar close for each of the teams. Mavs were led from the bench by Josh Howard, who after getting rolling managed to find the charity stripe for 5 shots in addition to shooting 4 for 7 from the floor, enough to make Mavs fans breathe a sigh of relief after all the trade talk and questions of just what kind of contributions he was really brining to the big picture. At least for another night, good ol' J-Ho can rest assured after the 13 points tonight.

Side by side, the Mavs and Bucks were neck in neck with the advantage falling to Milwaukee in the paint and second chance points but rebounds clearly in the hands of the Mavs as Dampier grabbed 11 on the night with 11 being defensive boards.