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Giannis Antetokounmpo fouled out before the Milwaukee Bucks hung on and beat Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks and his sixth foul set the stage for how the Bucks made it four consecutive victories.
Tim Hardaway Jr. missed all three free throws after getting fouled by the Greek Freak and Dorian Finney-Smith missed two more with Dallas in front in the final seconds, setting up Brook Lopez’s go-ahead layup in Milwaukee’s 106-105 victory.
The Greek Freak had 28 points when he fouled out with 2:55 remaining, ending his eight-game run with at least 30 points.
Luka Doncic had 33 points, including a poster dunk over Jrue Holiday, and 11 assists with a go-ahead layup with 29 seconds remaining, but was part of the Dallas’ free throw problem, going 4 of 10.
The Mavericks were a woeful 10 of 24 from the line — a franchise-worst 41.7% — and 7 of 15 in the fourth quarter. Their previous worst ever with at least 20 attempts, according to sportradar, was 47.6% (10 for 21) against the Nets in 1998.
“We practice free throws all the time,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said after his team’s three-game winning streak ended. “It’s just unfortunate that we didn’t make them at the right time”.
German forward Maxi Kleber added eight points for Dallas.