Brook Lopez hits game-winner in the final seconds for the Bucks in a 106-105 win over Mavericks

The Milwaukee Bucks continued their road travels in the state of Texas on Friday night, beginning with a matchup with the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. The Bucks moved to 19-6 on the season with a 106-105 victory over the Mavericks (13-12).

Play of the game is Brook Lopez's game-winner

With Giannis Antetokounmpo on the bench and their outside shooting being a bit iffy, the Bucks ran a play for big man Brook Lopez to put the team up in the final seconds out of a timeout.

Khris Middleton set a hard screen on 6-foot, 10-inch Maxi Kleber and no other Mavericks defender picked up Lopez as he rolled to the rim. He corralled the inbound from George Hill for the eventual game-winner.

The basket was Lopez's only field goal made of the game.

Giannis Antetokounmpo fouls out in rematch with Luka Dončić

Friday’s game featured two of the league’s Most Valuable Player front-runners and its top two scorers with Antetokounmpo and Luka Dončić. And, the pair did not disappoint.

But first, a primer.

Dončić came in averaging 32.9 points per game and Antetokounmpo 32.1. Both were shooting over 50% from the floor and averaging 10-plus free throws per game. Antetokounmpo is also being used a league-most 37.9% of the time when he’s on the floor, while Dončić is No. 3 at 36.9% (Note: Usage rate is the percentage of team plays a player was involved in while on the floor).

In the first meeting between the teams, Jrue Holiday was assigned to slow down Dončić, and his line of 27 points on 50% shooting, 12 assists and five rebounds was actually one of his worst to that point in the season. It remains the sixth-lowest scoring game, seventh-worst shooting and second-lowest rebounding game of the season to date for the Mavericks star.

On the other side, Antetokounmpo went for 30 on 11-of-19 shooting and added 11 rebounds.

In the rematch on Friday, Antetokounmpo had one of his worst starts to a game on the season while Dončić had a bounce back performance against Milwaukee’s No. 3 scoring defense.

Dončić tried to impose his will from the beginning, as the Dallas star played the entire first quarter and went 6 for 10, including 3 for 5 from behind the three-point line, in scoring 16 points. Dallas scored another nine points off four Dončić assists in taking a 33-32 first quarter lead.

Antetokounmpo had five points on 2-of-6 shooting in the opening frame.

Antetokounmpo was 2 for 10 but the Bucks took a 52-48 lead at the break, but Dončić wasn’t going to be denied at home. He essentially matched his stat line from the previous game with three minutes to go in the third quarter with 27 points and 10 assists – which was punctuated with a poster dunk on Holiday on the break.

The Bucks’ star got it going in fourth quarter with a 15-point effort – including a stretch of seven straight – that got the Bucks back in the game while Dončić was on the bench.

The two remained on the floor for the final minutes and went head-to-head – literally – with 5:21 to go when Dončić shouldered Grayson Allen out of the way and then drew Antetokounmpo’s fifth foul. Unfortunately for Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, his night ended a few minutes later when he fouled out with 2:55 remaining by stepping on Tim Hardaway Jr.’s foot on a three-point attempt with the Bucks up 102-101.

Antetokounmpo finished the night with 28 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

But, rather quietly, the Bucks slowed Dončić down after his breakout first quarter. He scored 17 points over the final three quarters in total – and just six in about the final 15 minutes.

Dončić finished with 33 points on 13 of 28 shooting, including 3 of 11 from behind the three-point line. He also had 11 assists and six rebounds.

He nearly got the last laugh, however, as he put his team up 105-104 with 29.6 seconds left. But, after the Bucks took a 106-105 lead with 7 seconds remaining Holiday prevented Dončić from getting a good final shot.

Joe Ingles is practicing

The Bucks’ lone free agent acquisition this offseason was forward Joe Ingles, who signed a one-year, $6.4 million deal. It was a big deal for the Bucks, as they used up their entire taxpayer mid-level exception for the 35-year-old, who tore his left anterior cruciate ligament on Jan. 30 while playing for the Utah Jazz. He had surgery in late February.

Ingles practiced with the Wisconsin Herd on Thursday before the Bucks headed to Dallas, marking a significant step in his recovery. He did some on-court work before the Bucks played Sacramento on Wednesday and at the American Airlines Arena on Friday.

Last season was Ingles’ worst from behind the three-point line as he shot 34.7% in 45 games with the Jazz. He also shot 40.4% from the floor overall, also a career-low.

But the Bucks are hoping the 6-foot, 8-inch Ingles can not only regain his shooting touch (40.8% career from deep) while bringing some playmaking ability in the pick-and-roll (he averaged 5.1 assists per game from 2018-21).

Five numbers

5 Points at halftime for Antetokounmpo, on 2 of 10 shooting.

6 Consecutive free throws the Mavericks missed in the final 3:41.

11/18/22 The date of the last game Antetokounmpo didn’t score 30 points. It was the night of the infamous “ladder incident” in Philadelphia where he scored 25 points. His streak of scoring at least 30 points ended at eight games, which is the second longest in Bucks history.

“I’ve been more impressed with just the way he’s facilitating offense, the way he’s playing with other people, we’re getting to more actions and more ball movement and people movement,” Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said recently. “Or, maybe a little bit more organically or at least some possessions, some big chunks of the game the ball is finding its way back to him. So I think that’s a big (thing). For him to really trust his teammates, for him to trust to play with everybody is important. And we work on it, we talk bout it, he understands it. He’s competitive and he’s going to play one-on-one sometimes, too. He’s great in that environment, too. You kind of get the best of both worlds. Sometimes he can go on these stretches. I think that’s when he’s at his best, when we’re at our best.”

106 Points for the Bucks, which is tied for the sixth-lowest total of the season.

1,600 Career blocks for Lopez after he swatted two shots in the first half.

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Video of the game is yet another catch-and-shoot three from Giannis

Antetokounmpo has an easy smile when it comes to most things, but he particularly enjoys talking about his catch-and-shoot ability. It’s been an underrated part of his recent 8-game scoring binge, as he’s making 33% of his catch-and-shoot threes in that period. On paper, it’s not that good, but he was making only 26% of his threes in total heading into the game against Dallas.

Bucks injury report

• Joe Ingles (left ACL), out

• Wesley Matthews (health and safety protocols), out

Who do the Bucks play next?

The Bucks head to Houston to play the Rockets on Sunday at 6 p.m. The Bucks beat the Rockets 125-105 at Fiserv Forum on Oct. 22, which was the Bucks’ second game of the season. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 44 points on 81% shooting and played just 27 minutes in that matchup.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brook Lopez hits game-winner for Bucks in 106-105 win over Mavericks