Mavs' Nash, Finley doom Bucks

Milwaukee

     Milwaukee was effective against the Dallas Mavericks' top scorer, Dirk Nowitzki. But the Bucks had few answers for Steve Nash and former University of Wisconsin standout Michael Finley. 

Nash and Finley had 33 points apiece Thursday night, sending the Mavericks to their season-high fifth straight victory, 113-101, over the Bucks.

      Nowitzki had only 8 points, 15.3 under his season average, but Nash and Finley picked up the slack.

      "Both of those guys are in a zone right now," Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. "We're on a bit of a roll right now. We're playing our best basketball. We've waited a long time to click like this offensively."

      Nash forced the tempo early in the game, and that got the Mavericks into open-court situations, enabling them to shoot 51.7 percent from the field.

      "Offensively we had it going," Finley said. "We came out of the box quick and set the tone early. Steve had it going in the third quarter. I didn't think he was ever going to miss."

      Nowitzki led Dallas with 12 rebounds. Finley and Nash added 8 assists apiece.

      "It's been like that all year," Dallas' Tim Hardaway said. "One of our big three always seems to have a big game, and when one doesn't, the others seem to pick it up."

      Finley and Nash took over after halftime, combining for 26 of Dallas' 28 third-quarter points as the Mavericks built an 87-75 lead entering the final quarter.

      "We got in a rhythm in the third quarter," Nash said. "It makes it easy on the team when you get hot from the perimeter."

      The Mavericks held a 70-67 lead with 6:51 left in the third quarter, then took control with a 17-8 run in the final 6 minutes of the quarter. Nash triggered the decisive run with a 3-pointer and had 9 of the 17 points.

      "Nash did a great job," Milwaukee coach George Karl said. "He had total control of the game. We fought back, but they would make the 3 or Finley would make a spurt."

      Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson each scored 21 points for the Bucks, whose three-game winning streak ended. Allen and Robinson were a combined 16 of 44 from the field.

      "We never really got our big three involved," Karl said. "They're talented All-Stars, but right now we haven't meshed as well as Dallas is meshing."