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Thursday, Jan. 11 8:00pm ET
Cassell leads Bucks to eighth straight home win

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- The Dallas Mavericks finally found a team it couldn't beat on the road.

Dirk Nowitzki
The Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki, left, collapses on the Bucks' Mark Pope and collects a foul.
Sam Cassell scored 21 points and had nine assists to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to their eighth straight win at the Bradley Center, a 102-94 victory over the Mavericks.

While the Bucks kept their streak alive, Dallas ended what had been a perfect road trip with a loss. The Mavericks, 24-14, had won four straight on their current trip and a franchise-record seven straight road games.

Milwaukee held the third-highest-scoring team in the NBA under 100 points for the first time on the Mavericks' road trip. Dallas has never won at the Bradley Center.

"It was a solid game against one of the hottest teams in the league," Bucks coach George Karl said. "It might be our best home win of the year. I'm glad they played last night. I saw some fatigue in their team at the end."

Glenn Robinson added 20 points, and Ray Allen and Tim Thomas each scored 18 for the Bucks, who improved to 20-15 and one game behind Charlotte in the Central Division.

"You spend so much energy when you're coming from behind," Cassell said. "You need everything to go right for you. We fought them off."

Michael Finley led Dallas with 30 points, and Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bucks took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter and saw their lead dwindle to five when Finley rebounded his missed free throw and made a layup to make it 91-86 at the 5-minute mark.

Finley sank a fadeaway jumper to make it 91-88 with 3:08 left, but he missed two free throws with 2:36 to go. Thomas made a 3-pointer with 1:46 that put the Bucks up 98-90 and wrapped it up.

"I think we just ran out of gas," Dallas coach Donn Nelson said. "This was a long road trip. I'm proud of the effort our guys made.

"We made four to five good runs at them, but they made the plays they had to each time. Sam (Cassell) is the key to how they play. We threw a lot of things at Sam tonight, and he handled them all. He takes big shots and makes big shots."

Finley said the Mavericks still had a good road trip.

"It could have been a great trip if we had won tonight," Finley said. "We were hot on the road. They were hot at home. One of us had to go down tonight, and unfortunately it was us."

Christian Laettner scored the first eight points of the game for Dallas, and the Mavericks built an early lead.

But the Bucks went on a 13-2 run that stretched from late in the first quarter to early in the second to go up 40-29, and led 55-47 at halftime.

Cassell scored nine points in the third quarter to help the Bucks to an 80-70 lead by the end of the period.

Game notes
Although Don Nelson was not with the Mavs, the team still came to the Bradley Center with a lot of Wisconsin ties. Donn Nelson, who spent part of his childhood in Milwaukee when his father was Bucks coach, is serving as head coach while his father recuperates from prostate surgery. Assistant coach Del Harris was a Bucks coach. Assistant coach Sidney Moncrief starred for the Bucks. Mavericks forward Michael Finley starred at Wisconsin. ... Dallas guard Steve Nash was not in uniform because of the flu.
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

Dallas Clubhouse

Milwaukee Clubhouse

RECAPS
Atlanta 107
Golden State 96

Portland 83
Charlotte 70

Orlando 101
New Jersey 87

Houston 76
New York 75

Milwaukee 102
Dallas 94

Phoenix 93
Indiana 85

FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT

George Karl Official Site


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