What happened to the Mavericks Saturday night was a painful gut punch.
What happened to Luka Dončić was a gut kick, also painful.
While that won’t leave much of a mark in the long run, the collapse against the Milwaukee Bucks certainly will linger in the loss column. The Mavericks lost a 25-point second-quarter lead. The Bucks had a 38-10 run that included a 15-0 skunking in the final two minutes of the first half.
Clearly, the Mavericks are struggling right now and the injuries, particularly to Kyrie Irving, Dante Exum and Dereck Lively II, are taking an obvious toll.
“It’s hard,” Dončić said. “We have some great players out. I think we had eight guys playing (against Milwaukee). It’s hard, man, especially against a team like this. They’re very special-talented. It’s very hard.”
To the point that even when Dončić throws down 40 points and misses a triple-double by a rebound, it’s not enough to get the Mavericks to the finish line first.
That’s what happens when Giannis Antetokounmpo sees ample opportunities to attack the basket and even drops in a couple three-pointers, he rolls up 48 points and the Bucks get 30 from Damian Lillard and the Mavericks simply can’t keep pace.
And then there was the kick.
It was inadvertent, for sure. But it still looked bad when it happened. The Greek Freak drove the baseline, got airborne under the basket and had nowhere to go. He fired a pass to the corner and A.J. Green hit a three-pointer. But as he was making the pass, his foot jabbed into Dončić’s midsection.
It could have been worse if it was south of the border, but it still wasn’t comfortable looking.
And, of course, before that, Luka went down in the first quarter when he twisted his right ankle, again. It’s the same ankle that’s been giving him problems pretty much all season. But the good news is that he’s getting treatment on that ankle daily.
As for the kick to the stomach?
“It was probably incidental, but that’s an offensive foul,” Luka said. “I think it was incidental, obviously, but it’s still a foul, right?”
Not on this night. And the Mavericks went down to their sixth loss in the last eight games, which has dropped them into eighth place in the Western Conference standings.
Here’s our other takeaways from the 129-117 loss to the Bucks:
Turning point for Kleber, Green? The Mavericks have gotten inconsistent play from pretty much everybody not named Luka or Kyrie. Injuries have been part of the problem. But Maxi Kleber and Josh Green both had strong outings against the Bucks. Kleber had 21 points and Green had 20, along with nine rebounds. “I thought Maxi played great. He did everything he could,” Kidd said. “And Josh played great being able to knock down threes. Those two played at a high level. We need everyone to play at a high level. Our margin of error is very slim.” Kidd said Kleber, who was sidelined for two months with a dislocated toe, “has gotten better each game. And being able to shoot the three, being able to guard the perimeter and Giannis in the post. I thought he did a really good job for us and we’re going to need that going forward.”
Blast from the past: Jae Crowder, who was a Maverick draft pick back in the day, has recovered from abdominal surgery earlier this season and he had an impact against the Mavs. Plagued by fouls in the first half, when he came off the bench, Crowder started the second half and had eight points in the third quarter.
Size matters: The Bucks have one of the biggest front lines in the NBA and even when Brook Lopez was a late scratch for personal reasons, the Bucks kept trying to exploit their size advantage. The Mavericks were missing Dereck Lively II, so that didn’t help matters. “We tried to match their size,” Kidd said. “We missed D-Live. But I thought DP (Dwight Powell) and Maxi played well. Those two alone can’t stop Giannis. It’s a team effort and he shot the ball well. He commanded the paint. He dominated the paint tonight.” And, by the way, the Bucks are pretty darn good. When Antetokounmpo and Lillard have it going, they are as good as any inside-outside combo in the league. And with Doc Rivers taking over as coach, the Bucks seem primed to have a serious say in how the Eastern Conference goes the rest of the way.
X: @ESefko
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