Bucks winning streak ends with loss to Mavericks

The Bucks have little time to reflect on the end of their 18-game winning streak.

Milwaukee’s lengthy run was halted Monday night when Seth Curry and Kristaps Porzingis each scored 26 points to help the visiting Dallas Mavericks pull out a 120-116 win without guard Luka Doncic.

Milwaukee, which dropped to 24-4 with its first defeat since a 103-100 setback Nov. 8 at Utah, next hosts the Lakers (24-3) on Thursday in a matchup of conference leaders.

“It’s going to be a test for us,” said Giannis Antetokounmpo, who led the Bucks with 48 points and 14 rebounds. “The Lakers are one of the best teams in the league. We’ve got to play good basketball.”

The winning streak was the Bucks’ longest since a franchise-record 20-gamer by the 1970-71 championship team that featured Lew Alcindor.

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“I hit those two deep 3s but even then, Giannis was right there in front of me,” Porzingis said. “They know we are a pretty good shooting team. But we have so many weapons and anybody on any given night can score 20-plus points. That’s the dangerous thing about us. Tonight, Seth played great. It’s kind of hard to play against a team that has so many options.”

Dallas was 7 of 13 beyond the arc in the first quarter en route to a 36-22 lead entering the second period.

Dallas led comfortably for most of the fourth quarter until the final half-minute. Tim Hardaway Jr. made the second of two free throws to make it 119-114 with 7.6 seconds remaining.

Antetokounmpo scored on a layup and was fouled, but missed the free throw. Sterling Brown grabbed the offensive rebound, but his putback was blocked by Porzingis.

Doncic sat out with a sprained right ankle, while the Bucks were missing injured point guard Eric Bledsoe.

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