The Dallas Mavericks withstood a late charge from the Milwaukee Bucks and hung on for a 108-107 victory on Tuesday.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 28 points as the Mavs were subjected to a late Milwaukee run led by forward Carlos Delfino, who made two successive three-pointers to cut the lead to one before missing the potential game-winner as time expired.
“We have a veteran ball club and when it comes down to crunch time, we don’t have any jitters and we welcome the challenge,” Dallas guard Jason Terry told reporters. “We know what we’re looking for and we know how to get stops.”
PHOTO: AFP
Delfino finished with 22 points while Andrew Bogut had a career-high 32 and nine rebounds for the Bucks (18-25).
The Mavericks, with Jason Kidd and Erick Dampier returning to the lineup, built a six-point halftime lead and held on to sweep the season series between the teams.
Similar to the last time these two faced off, a 115-113 overtime triumph for the Mavericks on Nov. 16, this one went right down to the wire.
PHOTO: AFP
Dallas led by eight early in the fourth but could not shake Milwaukee as both teams traded mini runs before Delfino took the reins. After the Bucks stole the ball from Nowitzki with four seconds left Delfino got a shot but missed it.
Delfino enjoyed his second straight 20-point effort as he has earned more prominent playing time for Milwaukee. Bogut was nearly perfect in making 13 of 14 shots.
Terry added 21 points as Dallas (30-15) extended their Southwest Division lead to four games. Nowitzki tied Brad Davis for a franchise record 883 games played as a Maverick. He also had eight rebounds and five assists.
Returning home after a five-game road trip, the Mavericks were coming off a record-setting 128-78 blasting of the New York Knicks on Sunday, the 50-point win the largest in Dallas franchise history.
LAKERS 115, WIZARDS 103
Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant scored 26 points each as the Los Angeles Lakers beat a distracted Washington Wizards 115-103 on Tuesday.
The Lakers shot 59 percent and forced six turnovers during a crucial second-quarter run. They had lost six of their previous eight road games and pulled to a 2-2 record midway through their current eight-game swing.
BOBCATS 114, SUNS 109
At Phoenix, Stephen Jackson scored 30 points as Charlotte scored nine of the first 11 points in overtime to beat the Phoenix Suns.
Jackson, who leveled the game at 98-98 on a 3-pointer with 19.9 seconds remaining, hit a 7m jump shot on the Bobcats’ first possession of overtime to give Charlotte only its second lead of the game.
In other NBA action, it was:
• Knicks 132, Timberwolves 105
• Kings 99, Warriors 96
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