The Milwaukee Bucks dropped to 0-2 in exhibition play, falling for the second straight game to the Dallas Mavericks, 128-112 at Fiserv Forum on Monday night.
The Bucks have struggled to defend the three previously and it continued Monday night. The Mavericks hit 22 of 46 from distance (47.8%).
The Bucks trailed 32-28 after the first quarter, then got hot, outscoring the Mavericks 41-27 in the second quarter to lead 69-59 at the break. But Mike Budenholzer’s squad couldn’t follow through in the second half. They were outscored 36-24 in the third quarter and 33-19 in the fourth.
Luka Doncic led all scorers with 27 points for the Mavericks, while teammate Josh Richardson added 23.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Bucks, leading six players in double figures.
With only three preseason games before the regular season opener at Boston on Dec. 23, Mike Budenholzer started stretching out his starters minutes. Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday both played 30 minutes and Antetokounmpo played 27 minutes.
The Bucks shot 50% from the field overall and made 12 of 33 (36.4%) from beyond the arc.
Milwaukee closes out the preseason on Friday night with a road game at New Orleans.