3 things we learned as the Mavericks defeat the Bucks, 111-79

The Mavericks finally secured win number three Saturday night, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in convincing fashion, 111-79. It was a true team effort from the Mavs, who essentially turned the volume up in the third quarter and never looked back, and won every quarter of the game. Wesley Matthews led the scoring effort for Dallas with 22 points, followed by Barea with 20 and Barnes with 18.

On the way to the win, the Mavericks tied a team record for threes, and shot 50 percent from beyond the arc. It was certainly a fun game to watch that I didn’t think they could win. Here are some takeaways.

Yogi Ferrell is quietly having a spectacular season

So much of the spotlight this season has been on Dennis Smith Jr., and rightfully so. But I’ve been maybe a liiiitle more interested in how Yogi Ferrell is having a simply wonderful sophomore season, building on his second-team All-Rookie selection last year. Ferrell was a big part of how Dallas was able to set a record for threes made in a game, pouring in 16 points and shooting a crisp 75 percent tonight.

Yes, plenty of players on the team had more points than him tonight, but I feel like he is all over the court doing everything right most games this season — and that his effort is somehow getting lost in the mire of the bad season/Noel drama/DSJ excitement. Well, I see you, Yogi.

Have the Mavericks finally found a rotation that works?

Maxi Kleber got his second straight start tonight, with Salah Mejri and Dwight Powell getting subbed in behind him and Dirk Nowitzki. The bench drastically outplayed the Bucks bench. Maybe my eyes misled me, but I didn’t see Barea and Dennis Smith Jr. on the court together much, if at all. (Maybe Rick Carlisle has been reading the site again?)

Putting aside the Noel drama for the moment, or the fact that maybe the Bucks just had an off-night, Carlisle has been tinkering with this rotation for the first part of the season, desperately trying to find something that works while Seth Curry’s status is still in the air. Tonight, for whatever reason, it worked. I’ll be interested to see if he sticks with some variation on this for a few more games, just to see if it’s real or a fluke.

Eric Bledsoe finally has an off-night

A big part of the Bucks’ recent winning streak has been the addition of Eric Bledsoe, who going into tonight had played in four games since joining the team, with the Bucks winning all those games. Not so tonight, as Bledsoe only went 2/10 from the field. While Wesley Matthews was playing good defense on Giannis that slipped a litte in the second half, Dallas did an effective job of shutting down Milwaukee’s new spark plug.

While that wasn’t the only factor in the Mavericks’ victory, it was a key piece of the overall balanced effort. Let’s hope we see more games like this from a team that desperately needed a game like this one.

Tune in next game as the Mavs take on the Celtics on Monday evening. (Well, winning, it was fun while it lasted?)