Marquis Daniels has missed the last 2 games due to his sore left ankle and will likely miss more games as Dallas is finally making him sit to try to get the ankle right, instead of him playing through the pain. Daniels sprained the ankle during the summer. Milwaukee at Dallas (January 2) Dallas led 12-11 with 7:30 remaining and went on a 19-4 run to go up 31-15 with 1:25 to go as Milwaukee shot a mere 2-15 FG during the run. Dallas led 33-19 after 1. Dirk Nowitzki had 11 points on 5-6 FG and Erick Dampier had 10 points on 5-5 FG (all dunks or layups). Dallas shot 65% FG and Milwaukee shot 31% FG. The only thing Dallas did not do well was boxing out Dan Gadzuric as he had 5 offensive rebounds during the quarter, a problem that would plague the team for the next 2 quarters as well. Jerry Stackhouse opened the 2nd quarter with a 3-point play and Nowitzki got a layup to give Dallas a 38-19 lead with 11:25 left. Dallas led 45-26 with 9 minutes remaining and consecutive 3-pointers kicked off a 12-0 run for Milwaukee as they pulled within 38-45 with 6:15 to go. But Dallas then scored the next 10 points to go up 55-38 with 5:10 left. Nowitzki hit a short jumper at the quarter buzzer to give Dallas a 66-50 lead at the half. Nowitzki had 10 points in the 2nd quarter. Milwaukee shot 60% FG during the 2nd quarter while Dallas shot 46% FG, but Dallas shot 9-9 FT and Milwaukee shot 4-8 FT during the quarter. Dallas scored the first 6 points of the 3rd quarter to go up 72-50 with 11 minutes remaining. But the tempo then slowed down and Dallas started playing sluggish and Milwaukee was able to chip away at the Mavs' lead. The Bucks used a 7-1 run to pull within 77-65 with 6:30 to go. After the teams went through a 2 minute dry spell, Zaza Pachulia hit a jumper to pull Milwaukee within single-digits at 75-84 with 2:10 left. Maurice Williams hit a jumper as the quarter ended. Dallas led 88-80 after 3. Williams had 11 points in the quarter. Dallas only shot 36% FG during the 3rd quarter while Milwaukee shot 52% FG. Gadzuric pulled a groin muscle late in the 3rd quarter and was unable to return (good news for the Mavs as he had 9 offensive rebounds). Dallas scored the first 4 points of the 4th quarter to put their lead back in double-digits. A layup by Pachulia pulled Milwaukee within 84-93 with 9 minutes left, but Josh Howard then scored the next 4 points. This time Dallas did not let up and had an answer or two for each time Milwaukee scored as the Mavs' lead stayed in double-digits. Dallas went on a 10-2 run, capped by consecutive 3-pointers by Nowitzki, to seal the win at 118-98 with 1:20 to go. Dallas won 123-104. It looked like it was going to be an easy one early, but Milwaukee is a team that can get hot and relies on their jump shooting - and they did go through a couple of hot streaks (helped by some poor Dallas defense) to get back in the game. But Dirk Nowitzki's shooting and Josh Howard's hustle helped Dallas put the game away in the 4th quarter. Dallas shot 13-20 FG including 2-2 3-pointers in the 4th (while Milwaukee shot 10-20 FG including 0-1 3-pointers). For the game, Dallas shot 52.8% (47-89) FG including 7-16 3-pointers and Milwaukee shot 47.1% (41-87) FG including 5-11 3-pointers. Milwaukee hurt their cause by missing 10 free throws (17-27 FT). Milwaukee did out-rebound Dallas 46-36 including 19-12 offensive. Both teams were pretty clean with the ball as Dallas had just 8 turnovers and Milwaukee had 12 turnovers. The hero of the games was Josh Howard, with a solid double-double and a ton of hustle efforts in the 4th quarter. 11 of his 25 points came in the 4th quarter. He shot 10-16 FG and had 13 rebounds including 6 offensive. Dirk Nowitzki was the high man with 39 points, including 11 in the 4th quarter. He shot 14-25 FG and 4-7 3-pointers and had 5 rebounds and 6 assists. 6 of Jerry Stackhouse's 18 points came in the 4th quarter. Erick Dampier started well with 10 points in the 1st quarter, but was quiet the rest of the game and he was plagued by foul trouble most of the rest of the game. He finished with 15 points including 7-8 FG and 4 rebounds before fouling out with 2:30 left. Michael Finley struggled with his shooting all night and did not get his first basket until 4 minutes into the 3rd quarter. But he contributed in other ways with his passing and rebounding. He had 5 points including 2-9 FG, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Jason Terry had 9 points including 3-9 FG and 10 assists, but was benched for most of the 4th quarter as the coach was unhappy with Terry's 3rd quarter defense - Nelson played most of the 4th without a point. Michael Redd did not go nuts and finished 5 points under his average. He had 18 points on 8-18 FG and 2-7 3-pointers. Desmond Mason had a very quiet outing near his home town (he's from Waxahachie) and was 6 points under his average with just 12 points. He also had 5 rebounds. It was the point guards that got Milwaukee back in the game as Maurice Williams scored 11 of his 13 points in the 3rd quarter and Mike James scored 10 of his 20 points in the 4th quarter. Williams had 5 assists. James shot 9-13 FG and 2-3 3-pointers and had 5 rebounds. Dan Gadzuric had 12 points on 5-7 FG and 2-6 FT, 14 rebounds including 9 offensive, and 3 blocks before leaving the game with his injury. Zaza Pachulia had 11 points and 5 rebounds. Quotes Don Nelson: "After a long layoff, we shouldn't be surprised when we are sporadic and not as sharp as we would like to be. That is kind of how the game was; it wasn't consistent enough for me. A few players played very well and a lot didn't play so well." Nelson on the turnovers and assists: "It wasn't enough of a free flowing game. We had to call so many set plays where we knew where everyone was going to be. Milwaukee is struggling, so I wouldn't get too high on those numbers." Nelson on not playing a point guard most of the 4th quarter: "I thought the 2nd half I didn't get any good play out of my point guards. I wasn't satisfied and I decided to try to go without it. They weren't guarding. It looked like Milwaukee's point guards were 2 All Stars. They were going where they wanted to, shooting where they wanted to, making shots." Nelson: "I'd like to see a better flow to the game. It's going to start biting us in the butt if we don't play better basketball on both ends of the floor." Nelson on Howard: "He was the best player on the floor. You start talking about All-Stars on this team, you better not talk around Josh Howard." Dirk Nowitzki: "In the 3rd quarter we had a lot of defensive let downs and we've got a lot of work to do. We've got another two days off and we have a lot of practices coming up where we can get even sharper on both ends of the floor. Everyone shot the ball well tonight and we got ourselves a win." Nowitzki: "We had a defensive let down and let them back into the game. It should have been easier, but we'll take the win." Nowitzki: "Even though we had a comfortable lead, it felt like with a couple of shots, they could have been right back in it. It should have been a lot easier on us. But at this point, we're taking the win." Nowitzki: "Offensively, we're really clicking lately. In the Boston game, Damp came out really aggressive in the paint. He's getting dunks, he's been a presence offensively, and we need that. If he's playing good for us on both ends of the floor and is a presence down low, we're tough to beat." Nowitzki: "We talked about coming out and setting the standard early in this homestand. It has been working well." Nowitzki: "I have to be aggressive on the offensive end. Usually when I'm aggressive, it helps my teammates because I demand a little more attention. I've been trying to mix it up, drive a little more this year and get to the basket or get fouled." Nowitzki on Howard: "He's our best defender without a doubt hands down. He's athletic and he can stay with the best shooters, he can fight over screens and that's what he did tonight. He's been doing a great defensive job for us all season long and it's good to have somebody that can just shut someone down. You can't really shut Michael Redd down, but he did a good job on him." Nowitzki: "Damp has to be aggressive for us to go somewhere. He's been playing great lately. He's pump-faking and going up there and dunking the ball. He's getting fouled. That's what we need." Jerry Stackhouse: "I'm not going to sell us short because we did have a good win. We're trying to start something here, but we're not going to say this was our best game of the year." Stackhouse: "It's starting to come together for me. I'm looking at the new year with a lot of resolve and trying to go out and be myself. Coach allows me to be myself. The only time I err is when I'm not aggressive." Jason Terry on the 3rd quarter: "Defensively, we just stopped getting stops and weren't able to get out in transition. We're a much better team when we can get out in transition and create early offense for each other. The tempo kind of slowed up and we're definitely not at our best when that happens. When we're getting stops and rebounding and getting out and running, we're much better." Terry on Dampier: "He's just been going up strong. He's gotten his legs back. We had a tremendous conditioning program this fall and he was there every day working hard. It's just takes time to get your legs back. Now that he has his legs back, he's finishing everything strong in the paint. Something that we knew he could do." Terry on Dallas being 11-0 when Nowitzki scores 30+: "We don't want to disappoint him. When he gets up there past 30 we have to come out with the win." Terry on the home games: "It's very crucial. We want to play with some consistency. We're at home, we haven't played particularly well at home all season so this is a chance to build up some momentum." Josh Howard: "I'm staying aggressive, hitting the glass, cleaning up. A lot of the shots were going through Fin and Dirk. I was just on the glass cleaning up, running the floor, and doing the little things to help my team win." Terry Porter: "They came out and did a really good job of making shots. We had some stretches where we turned it over and they were off to the races. We didn't do a good job of getting back." Porter: "The 3rd quarter was our best quarter. We put ourselves in a position to make a game out of it. Then they went on a spurt on us because of our inability to execute certain things; turning it over. That's a big thing. We turned it over in some key stretches in the 1st half and they were in a good zone. When they are allowed to get into the open court, they are very tough. They have multiple ball handlers; great shooters and spacers on the floor, and we didn't stop them enough." Porter: "Dirk shot it well tonight. What can you say about him? He's a great shooter. I don't think guys did that bad of a job on him, he just made some shots. He does that." Michael Redd: "We actually came back and made a game out of it, but that hurt. Obviously giving up that many points in the 1st half is not a good thing. We were right there in the 3rd quarter. 4th quarter, we kind of collapsed both defensively and offensively. When you have that against this type of team, you are going to lose the game." Desmond Mason: "We had a little bit of a spurt there in the 2nd half where we played good basketball. But we just hit an area where we couldn't get anything going on either end of the floor. We couldn't get any team defense and we couldn't get any movement with the ball on offense. That cost us. When we got back within 8 points, we were right there. We had plenty of time to get back in the game. Obviously, we don't like to get down that much early in the game, but we got back in the game. We just needed to keep pushing and we weren't able to do that." Mike James: "That's a good team and everyone goes on runs. They countered our run. We have to learn how to maintain our focus for 48 minutes. Against a team like this, we can't afford to get down so many points and try to play catch up. They have so many scoring threats that they can beat you with any position." Maurice Williams: "They feed off of me so I've got to set the tone. I felt like in the 1st quarter I was real passive. I wanted to come out in the 2nd half and be more aggressive." Dallas Mavericks 123, Milwaukee Bucks 104 at Dallas (January 2) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 33 33 22 35 - 123 .548 .438 .528 .786 Milwaukee 19 31 30 24 - 104 .474 .455 .471 .630 Halftime: Dallas 66-50 3rd Q: Dallas 88-80 Technicals: Zaza Pachulia 10:59 2nd, Marcus Fizer 3:01 4th, Terry Porter 3:01 4th Refs: James Capers, Joe DeRosa, Derrick Stafford Attendance: 20.067 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Marquis Daniels (sore left ankle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 36 2-9 0-2 1-1 5 1-7 6 1 4 2 1 Jason Terry 32 3-9 2-3 1-1 9 0-1 10 2 1 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 46 14-25 4-7 7-9 39 1-5 6 4 1 1 2 Josh Howard 38 10-16 1-3 4-5 25 6-13 2 0 2 1 0 Erick Dampier 27 7-8 0-0 1-3 15 2-4 0 1 6 0 1 Jerry Stackhouse 32 6-15 0-1 6-6 18 1-3 2 0 0 0 0 Alan Henderson 13 3-4 0-0 0-0 6 1-2 0 0 1 0 0 Devin Harris 8 1-2 0-0 2-3 4 0-1 2 0 2 2 0 Shawn Bradley 7 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 4 0 0 Calvin Booth 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 47-89 7-16 22-28 123 12-36 28 8 21 8 4 Milwaukee Bucks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Redd 39 8-18 2-7 0-0 18 0-1 0 0 1 2 0 Maurice Williams 26 4-7 1-1 4-4 13 2-2 5 1 4 1 0 Desmond Mason 38 5-13 0-0 2-3 12 1-5 1 3 2 2 1 Joe Smith 33 2-10 0-0 2-2 6 2-6 1 1 4 0 0 Dan Gadzuric 25 5-7 0-0 2-6 12 9-14 1 1 2 0 3 Mike James 25 9-13 2-3 0-0 20 1-5 3 2 1 0 0 Kendall Gill 20 1-4 0-0 3-4 5 1-3 2 0 2 1 0 Zaza Pachulia 18 4-9 0-0 3-6 11 2-5 1 2 3 0 1 Marcus Fizer 16 3-6 0-0 1-2 7 1-5 3 2 3 0 0 Totals 48 41-87 5-11 17-27 104 19-46 17 12 22 6 5 patricia