The Dallas Mavericks (24-52) got ran off the floor by the Milwaukee Bucks (30-45) on Tuesday night, falling 123-99. Ryan Rollins led the Bucks with 24 points. Cooper Flagg was the high-point man for Dallas with 19, but it took 19 shots to get there.
The sport of basketball was attempted between the Bucks and the Mavericks in the first quarter of Tuesday night’s contest. Rollins and Kyle Kuzma chewed Dallas up early and late, scoring with ease. Both teams shot the three well and it ended up being a much
higher score than many might’ve predicted. The atrocious Dallas defense lost out against a Bucks offense that kept the gas pedal down. The Mavericks trailed 38-31 after twelve minutes.
Frame two of the basketball-adjacent atrocity saw the Bucks hold and grow the lead as the Mavericks were unable to score. Max Christie appears to be feeling like not enough butter scraped over too much toast, unable to hit anything while also looking bad on defense. Daniel Gafford went down late in the frame after taking a hard fall trying to block a Rollins rim attempt. Both team’s long distance shooting died in the quarter, but the Bucks scored a few more baskets in the paint and connected on a few more outside looks than the Mavs to give the home team a 65-51 lead at the half.
The second half started and ended poorly. With Gafford getting ruled out at halftime due to a stinger, Dallas had just nine players able to play, and most of them were not very good at basketball on this particular night. The Bucks grew their lead to 20, then higher, and it quickly became a game of “can everyone get out of here without getting hurt.” Dallas entered the fourth quarter down 90-70.
The fourth was unwatchable. Dallas lost b…. a lot.
Running clock, please
This was one of the more brutal basketball games this iteration of the Mavericks has played this year. When Klay Thompson is out and Max Christie can’t hit shots, Dallas is unwatchable. The Bucks STINK, and yet the Mavs were down by 20 for a huge chunk of this game. I love the Mavs, but this is awful. Speed the season along, please.
Max Christie has to get better
If Christie is to be a piece of the future, he has to show more. He gets a ton of minutes and the second half of this season, he’s been ineffective most of the time. In March, his overall shooting numbers took a tumble, hitting just 38% from the floor. More than half his attempts being threes helps to some degree because he shot that from distance this past month, but that means inside the arc he’s a liability. Dallas needs players who can be more from all over the floor and unless it’s a catch-and-shoot, Christie hasn’t been good enough.
Cooper’s shot looks bad from three, try again next year
Cooper Flagg shot the ball horribly from the perimeter since returning from a foot injury after the All-Star break. He’ll be fine, I believe that, but watching these shooting struggles from distance sucks right now.
That’s all I have. I wish the Mavericks were better. It’s an exercise in endurance for Mavs fans right as the 2025-26 season wraps up.
