Bucks seek first road win in Dallas

Barring any freak occurrence on Friday the 13th, Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki will become the 23rd player in NBA history to reach 23,000 career points tonight and is just three points off the mark.

The Milwaukee Bucks are just trying to win a road game (0-6) this season and face a steep task against the defending league champions.

After opening the season with three straight losses, Dallas has won three straight and six of its last eight games, including a 90-85 victory at Boston on Wednesday behind Nowitzki's three-point play with 5.1 seconds left in regulation. The German star finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Mavericks, who got 18 points from Jason Terry.

"Everyone's looking at you and your team really depends on you, so I like to be in the position where I can make something happen," Nowitzki said of his clutch drive to layup past Celtics center Kevin Garnett.

The Mavericks are 6-0 this season when they hold the opposition to under 90 points, compared to 0-5 when they allow 90-plus points in a game. They are also averaging 10.55 steals per game this season, which ranks second in the NBA, and will also Sacramento on the residency. Dallas has won four in a row in Big D after losing its first two games there and is one game behind San Antonio for first place in the Southwest Division.

Mavs guard Jason Kidd is questionable for Friday with a strained lower back and hasn't played during his team's current three-game winning streak.

Something has to give for the Bucks to capture their first road win of the season and they will begin a short trek tonight against Dallas and Philadelphia. After losing all five games on a western road trip, the Bucks returned home to post back-to-back victories.

In a 102-93 victory versus Detroit on Thursday, Bucks head coach Scott Skiles became the 39th coach in NBA history to reach 400 victories thanks to 27 points from Brandon Jennings and 25 out of Stephen Jackson. Jon Leuer added 15 points, while Ersan Ilyasova had 14 for the Bucks, who shot 47.4 percent for the game, made 11-of-22 three-pointers and led by as many as 18 points.

"A lot of these games are won by the team that has the most energy and we were able to at least build a lead and hold them off," said Skiles, whose team improved to 4-0 at the Bradley Center this season.

The last time Milwaukee opened the season with seven straight losses on the road was back in the 2004-05 campaign.

Milwaukee swept last season's series (2-0) against the Mavericks for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Dallas is 10-6 in the last 16 matchups and has won seven of eight and nine of the past 11 encounters with the Bucks at home.