Nowitzki and Mavs rout Bucks

Josh Howard had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Jason Terry netted 20 for the Mavericks, who have won two in a row and five of their last six contests. Erick Dampier grabbed 10 rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.

"I thought Damp gave us a huge lift off our bench in the first half," said Dallas coach Avery Johnson. "We knew we needed to play well against this team on the boards and we won the rebound game. I thought JET (Terry) and Devin (Harris) ran the ballclub like quarterbacks...I thought our bench gave us a good lift overall. Van Horn was looking pretty good until he went down."

Michael Redd led the Bucks with 29 points, including 11-of-12 from the foul line, and Maurice Williams contributed 18 points in the loss, Milwaukee’s second consecutive and sixth in its last eight attempts.

Dallas opened the third quarter on an 11-4 run, courtesy of seven points from Nowitzki to give the Mavericks a 69-49 lead. The power forward scored 16 points in the third period and Dallas led 89-73 heading into the final frame.

Terry’s trey at the 9:45 mark gave the Mavericks a 20 point lead and the Bucks did not get any closer until the final minute of the game. Dallas grabbed a 102-77 lead after Harris’ driving layup with 8:11 left in the game, which capped a 13-4 streak.

The Mavs shot 51.9 percent from the floor, including 6-of-10 from long distance. Milwaukee connected on 49.3 percent of its shots and committed 18 turnovers. Dallas grabbed the edge in rebounds 42-31.

Milwaukee scored the first seven points, the last three on Redd’s shot, only for Dallas to come back with a 15-5 run on Keith Van Horn’s driving finger roll.

Dallas held a 27-25 lead after 12 minutes of play as Van Horn scored nine points before being lifted with a left ankle sprain.

The Mavs closed the second quarter with a 15-7 spurt, highlighted by seven points from Terry, and went into the half with a 58-45 edge.

Game Notes

Van Horn turned his ankle twice in the first quarter and left the game with seconds remaining in the opening frame...Dallas scored on 11 of its final 13 possessions in the third quarter...The Mavericks have won four of the last six meetings...The Bucks have lost three straight and five of its last six at Dallas...The Mavs are 15-4 at home, while Milwaukee is 9-9 on the road...The Mavericks have scored at least 100 points in the last 10 games against the Bucks...This is the first time all season Dallas has won consecutive games by double digits.