**MILWAUKEE – Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo combined for 66 points and the Milwaukee Bucks went on to defeat the Dallas Mavericks, 137-107, on Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum.**
The loss left the Mavs with a 32-31 record entering Friday’s home game against the Memphis Grizzlies, while the Bucks improved to 36-25.
The Mavs were unfortunately without nine injured players – likely an NBA record – in their quest to try and beat a Bucks squad that got 34 points from Lillard and 32 points and 15 rebounds from Antetokounmpo, who became the 52nd player in NBA history to score at least 20,000 points.
Among the players the Mavs were missing include Kyrie Irving (torn left ACL), Anthony Davis (adductor strain), Dereck Lively II (right ankle stress fracture), PJ Washington (right ankle sprain), Daniel Gafford (right knee sprain), Dante Exum (right foot contusion), Jaden Hardy (right ankle sprain), Caleb Martin (right hip strain) and Kai Jones (left quad strain). Although the Mavs always say “next man up” when an injury occurs, they were down to just eight healthy players who dressed for Wednesday’s game.
Klay Thompson led the Mavs with 28 points on 11-of-27 shots, Naji Marshall finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, Brandon Williams tallied 14 points, five rebounds, seven assists and three steals, and Max Christie added 13 points and three steals. Besides Lillard and Antetokounmpo, the Bucks got 18 points from AJ Green, 17 points from Kyle Kuzma and 10 points apiece from Kevin Porter Jr. and Jericho Sims.
The Mavs led, 19-18, midway through the first quarter. From there, the Bucks stepped on the gas and went on to take a 43-30 lead into the second quarter and a 72-53 lead at the half.
With Lillard and Antetokounmpo on fire, Milwaukee padded their lead to 106-79 after three quarter. The Bucks wound up shooting 58.4 percent from the field and also converted 16-of-35 from three-point range for 45.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the Mavs made 45.9 percent for their shots and 33.3 percent (13-of-39) of their three-pointers. The Bucks also had a decisive advantage on the boards (55-50).
It was the Mavs’ first game since Monday’s game against the Sacramento Kings when Irving was loss for the season with his unfortunate injury.
**X: @DwainPrice**