Dirk Nowitzki, who came into the evening needing 18 points to reach 15,000 for his career, scored 13 in the first eight minutes, but had only 17 when he left for the evening.

He departed with 3:42 left in the second quarter when he stepped on a Milwaukee player's foot. Nowitzki played the first few possessions of the third quarter, but could not move well enough to continue and left for the locker room.

"Basically, the bone spurs jammed together," Nowitzki said. "I tried to walk it off, but it wouldn't loosen up.