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Mavs hold on late to defeat Bucks

Nov 10, 2013 - 6:48 AM Milwaukee, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - Monta Ellis had 18 points with five assists in helping the Dallas Mavericks to a 91-83 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

O.J. Mayo had a game-high 28 points for Milwaukee in the loss.

Playing their former teams, Ellis and Mayo squared off late in the fourth quarter to intensify the rivalry with fans at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

"Guys definitely do get jacked up for it," Bucks coach Larry Drew said of the players facing their former teams. "When you're going against your old team, you play to try to prove something. Sometimes it can work for you, sometimes it can work against you."

With Dallas holding a 81-76 lead late in the fourth quarter, Mayo hit a 3- pointer to pull the Bucks with two, their slimmest margin since they held a four-point lead in the first quarter.

Ellis then answered 18 seconds later with a jumper to extend the lead back to a two-possession game.

Following a Caron Butler miss, Mayo gathered the offensive rebound and made the layup to pull within two with 2:47 left.

That is as close as Milwaukee would get as Samuel Dalembert made a layup and Dirk Nowitzki hit a jumper to lengthen the Mavs lead 87-81.

"They made their run, but we kept our composure and made plays down the stretch when we needed to," Ellis said.

Nowitzki finished with 16 points and six rebounds, while Shawn Marion had a double-double, scoring 14 points and adding 10 boards.

The Bucks opened the game with an 11-7 lead and the Mavericks proceeded to go on a 15-2 run led by Jose Calderon and Marion.

Calderon made two 3-pointers and Marion hit a 3-pointer and made a nifty run in the lane to cap the spurt.

Dallas added on late in the first quarter, going on a 10-1 run in the final 2:27. to lead 34-19 after 12 minutes.

Milwaukee got back into the game by going on a 17-4 run in the final 7:03 of the third frame, trailing only 68-64.

Butler scored eight of his 19 points during the comeback and added 13 rebounds.

Game Notes

Dallas has now taken 10 of the last 15 meetings from Milwaukee ... This is the first time the Mavericks have taken back-to-back games in Milwaukee since 1986-87 and 1987-88 ... The two teams split the season series last year with the road team winning each time ... Dallas salvaged the final game of its three-game road trip ... Milwaukee travels to South Beach for a game against the Heat Nov. 12 ... Dallas returns home for a matchup against Washington Nov. 12.