MILWAUKEE – Jason Terry went from icicles to blazing hot in a micro-moment. But no matter how many 3-pointers he would fling in during a dazzling fourth-quarter shooting exhibition, he couldn't offset a relentless string of mundane 15-footers by the Milwaukee Bucks.

There's a reason why they're called free throws.

The Mavericks couldn't keep the Bucks off the charity stripe in the fourth quarter, committing 10 fouls that gift-wrapped enough points for a 97-95 victory Saturday night at the Bradley Center.

The Mavericks ended their Thanksgiving trip 1-2 after surrendering 35 points in the fourth quarter, the most they've given up in the final frame this season.

That lack of defense rendered harmless anything Terry or anybody else did at the other end of the floor.

"We don't make any excuses. We just didn't get the stops in the fourth quarter," coach Avery Johnson said. "They scored 35 points on us in the fourth, and I think they had 16 free throw attempts. They wore the line out."

The Mavericks had solved their slow-starting problems Saturday but were doomed by their finish. Josh Howard was back to his old self, jump-starting the Mavericks and keeping them neck-and-neck with the Bucks throughout.

But there wasn't enough execution down the stretch. Neither team led by more than six points all night, and the game made up for a lack of style points with hard-fought competition throughout.

"We'll use this as a learning tool," said Howard, who had 24 points and 11 rebounds and twisted his left ankle on two separate plays when he came down on an opponent's feet.

"We played hard. They were just better tonight."

The Bucks improved to 7-4, including 6-0 at home. In the end, it came down to the Mavs' inability to stop Michael Redd, Mo Williams and Andrew Bogut, who combined for 62 points.

Terry's shooting was feast or famine. He was 1-of-7 a few minutes into the fourth quarter, then suddenly he couldn't miss. When he hit his third consecutive 3-pointer to put the Mavericks up, 85-84, with under three minutes left, it looked like he was going to save them from themselves.

An exchange of baskets kept the Mavericks in great shape. But their finish, while inspired, came up short.

The Bucks scored six consecutive points, with four different players contributing. One of the scores came when Michael Redd went spinning into the lane, got a little out of control and smacked into Devin Harris.

Harris was called for a blocking foul.

"We felt we got a great charge where Devin was in position, but it didn't go our way," Johnson said. "It was a hard-fought game. The Bucks played hard. We played hard. We just didn't have enough in the tank at the end."

Jerry Stackhouse and Terry missed during the Milwaukee run, but when Terry hit another 3-pointer with 27.6 to go, the Mavericks were only down 92-90.

Redd, who had 27 points, hit one of two free throws, and Terry converted a runner in the lane, again making it a one-point game.

Redd was fouled with 21.1 left and hit both free throws. This time, Terry couldn't connect from long range, and the Bucks salted the game away.

"I'm going to keep shooting. I didn't want to get discouraged," Terry said. "Then they started falling. But the one I really wanted to knock down wouldn't go."