Stats Rundown: 3 numbers to know from the Mavericks’ 109-84 preseason win over the Milwaukee Bucks

Dallas heads to the regular season on a positive note.

The Dallas Mavericks found a little rhythm in their fourth and final preseason game Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Mavs got good early production from some key pieces, they found a decisive 16-0 run in the second quarter and coasted in the second half for a 109-84 win at American Airlines Center to close out the 2024 preseason schedule.

It’s true. The Bucks were without stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, but the reps the Mavs got were good ones on Thursday, at least in the first half. At the end of the night, the Mavs can take a lot of positives away from this final preseason game.

Dallas now has a week off before their regular season opener on Oct. 24 at home against the San Antonio Spurs. Tipoff for that one is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on TNT. Here are three numbers to crunch from Thursday’s preseason tuneup.

12: First-quarter points for Kyrie Irving

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Irving is ready to go, if his first-quarter effort is any indication of the state of his game. His pull-up 3-pointer was in mid-season form, his corner fadeaway jumper was pure and he got to the cup on demand, scoring at all three levels on his way to 6-for-6 shooting from the field in the first.

His corner fade with three minutes left in the frame put the Mavs up 17-14 at the time, and his leaning, driving banker with 1:45 left kept Dallas ahead 21-19 for the moment. The Bucks would take a 22-21 lead after one.

Irving led all scorers with 14 points at halftime and played limited minutes in the second half.

14: Klay Thompson ends his preseason missed FG streak

After going 0-for-9 from the floor in Monday’s 110-96 loss at the Los Angeles Clippers, Thompson missed his first four, including two more 3-pointers, Thursday against the Bucks. That brought his missed-field-goal streak to 14 this preseason, dating back to the second quarter of the second game, Oct. 10 against the Jazz.

But in the second quarter against the Bucks on Thursday, Thompson found a little rhythm of his own. They were simple scoring opportunities, but it was good to see Thompson raise up with the confidence we’ve seen throughout his 12 years in the NBA and can a few jumpers in a row. Naji Marshall found him open for a 3-pointer early in the second before he gave a flailing defender a nice pump fake and one dribble for a wide open perimeter jumper to put the Mavericks up 30-29 with 9:22 left before halftime.

Thompson floated to the 3-point line in transition after a Quentin Grimes steal later in the quarter, Grimes executed the drive-and-dish and Klay splashed his second 3-pointer of the game with just over three minutes left in the first half. That shot put the Mavs up 45-36. Grimes found Thompson just a minute later for another 3-pointer to set Dallas up with a 50-36 lead, part of a 16-0 Dallas run.

Thompson scored all 11 of his points in the second quarter as the Mavericks took a 54-38 lead into the half. Thompson also played limited minutes in the second half.

10/9/3: Dereck Lively II’s stat line

Dereck Lively II continued to impress in the final preseason action before his second NBA season. Head coach Jason Kidd gave the start to Daniel Gafford, and in just 12 first-half minutes, Lively made his presence felt immediately. He hit a turnaround hook on his first offensive possession and finished the first half with eight points, seven rebounds and a blocked shot.

Lively was one of the key pieces that did see significant minutes in the third quarter on Thursday and ended the night with 10 points, nine boards and three blocked shots in 17 minutes. Gafford was no slouch in his minutes, either, putting up 11 points, four boards and two more blocks in 17 minutes as well. Both were effective in the interior of the defense, and Lively’s offensive progression in particular is setting up to be one of the most interesting Mavericks storylines of the 2024-25 season. But more importantly, Thursday’s game was a nice blueprint of the consistency Dallas wants to see at the five position, no matter who gets the start or who earns three-to-five more minutes per game.