(Sports Network) - The Milwaukee Bucks will take a three-game losing streak
into Big D on Tuesday night when they visit the Dallas Mavericks at American
Airlines Center.
The Bucks have been dreadful of late, not just losing three consecutive games.
Milwaukee is 2-8 in the month of February and J.J. Redick's Bucks debut was
spoiled on Saturday night.
"I feel like I was brought here to help this team win and secure a good
playoff position," Redick said. "I'm a competitor, and I certainly didn't want
to start off with a loss here. Coming from Orlando, where in the last 30 games
we were 3-27, I really wanted to win."
The Bucks fell to the Atlanta Hawks, 103-102 at home. Milwaukee has now
dropped two straight at home, but four consecutive on the road, where the
Bucks will be for a swing through Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday. They face
the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.
Redick had 16 points in his Bucks debut. The team acquired him, Gustavo Ayon
and Ish Smith in a trade deadline. Ayon and Smith didn't play against the
Hawks.
Six Bucks scored in double figures and Larry Sanders pulled down 19 rebounds.
Monta Ellis handed out 10 assists.
If you're a Bucks fan looking for a silver lining, the three straight losses
all came by three points or fewer. It's only the third time in franchise
history the Bucks have played three straight one-possession games and lost all
three.
The Mavericks had a three-game winning streak snapped on Sunday when the Los
Angeles Lakers came to town and knocked off Dallas, 103-99.
Dirk Nowitzki did everything he could to get the Mavs a win. He scored 30
points, grabbed 13 rebounds and picked up three steals, but it wasn't enough
for a victory.
"It's another tough one. I mean, it seems like it's a theme of the year," said
Nowitzki. "We're always right there in some of those games and we can never
pull them off. And if you want to be a playoff team, you've got to find a way
to win at least half of them. We finally pulled one out in New Orleans the
other day, but we haven't really won those close games at a high clip, so
that's really going to hurt us. This was another game that we needed to have
against a team that's right there with us in the hunt and just not good
enough."
The Lakers and Mavs are fighting to try and unseat the Rockets for the eighth
seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The Lakers trail Houston by three
games and Dallas is a game behind Los Angeles.
The Mavericks have won eight of the last 12 meetings with the Bucks and eight
of the last nine between the two teams in Dallas.
The Sports Network