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Mavericks erupt from distance, rout Bucks 111-79

Mavericks erupt from distance, rout Bucks 111-79

After suffering a terrible second-half collapse on Friday night at home against Minnesota, the Dallas Mavericks had a chance to redeem themselves on Saturday against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks.

Opportunity seized.

Dallas hit 19 three-pointers (tying a franchise record for a regular season game) en route to a 111-79 victory over Milwaukee, the Mavericks’ third win of the season.

Though Giannis Antetokounmpo filled up the stat sheet (24 points, 17 rebounds) he struggled to just 7-20 shooting from the field due in large part to suffocating defense from Wesley Matthews.

Matthews also had a bounce-back game on the offensive end after struggling on Friday and finished with 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting from deep.

J.J. Barea also contributed to the long-range barrage and finished with 20 points.

For the first two quarters, the game seemed like a carbon copy of Friday’s defeat; Dallas moved the ball efficiently (17 assists to the Bucks’ five in the first half) and Milwaukee struggled offensively. Dallas led 56-44 at the break after having a 55-43 advantage just 24 hours earlier.

The difference in the two contests is that Dallas was outscored, 31-17, in the third quarter against the Wolves, but the Mavericks outscored Milwaukee, 26-17, on Saturday in the third quarter.

Dennis Smith Jr. finished with just five points on 2-of-8 shooting, but the Mavericks were a +13 with him on the floor. He hit an early 3-pointer and then slammed home an alley-oop from Matthews in the second half.

I'm Zack Cunningham, a broadcast journalism major from Abilene Christian University's class of 2008. I've lived in Texas for 28 of my 31 years on this Earth and I've followed the Mavericks since 1998. My first memory of them was the 2001 playoffs and being extremely happy when they beat the Jazz, but sad when they lost to the Spurs in five games in the conference semifinals. However, seeing Dirk drop 42 stands out to me, punctuated by his dunk in garbage time. I covered high school sports for the Cleburne Times-Review from 2008-12 before moving into the tech industry. Most recently, in 2015 covered the Mavericks for the Fanatic briefly before moving to work with Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com. I am married to my beautiful wife, Jessica, and have been for just over five years now. We live in Carrollton with our dog, Zara, and cat, Drake. I'm looking forward to covering them again this season with the Fanatic!

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