Mavs sweep; Pistons up 3-1

Dallas next will face San Antonio or Sacramento.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Dallas Mavericks wanted to get this one over quickly. They sure picked the right opponent.
Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and Josh Howard had 24 to lead the Mavericks over the Grizzlies 102-76 on Monday, Dallas' first best-of-seven sweep and an NBA-record 12th consecutive playoff loss for Memphis.
The Mavericks will face the winner of the San Antonio-Sacramento series, which is tied at two games apiece, in the Western Conference semifinals.
Nowitzki, who averaged 32.7 points in the first three games, was 12-of-21 from the floor and made all three of his 3-point shots, while Howard was 9-of-17. Howard had nine rebounds.
Pau Gasol led Memphis with 25 points and Mike Miller scored 10. They were the only Grizzlies in double figures.
The Grizzlies were swept for the third time in three consecutive playoff appearances, and fans began filing out of FedExForum early in the final period. Announced attendance was 15,104. The Grizzlies put a sellout at 18,119.
The Grizzlies already had the longest losing streak of any playoff team before a first postseason victory. The previous record of 11 consecutive playoff losses was set by Baltimore and matched by Denver.
Memphis was swept in the first round by Phoenix last year and San Antonio the year before.
Dallas also got 19 points from Jerry Stackhouse and 12 from Jason Terry.
Pistons 109, Bucks 99
MILWAUKEE -- Chauncey Billups was 16-of-16 from the foul line and scored 34 points to send the Pistons back to Detroit with a 3-1 series lead.
The Pistons can finish off the Bucks with a victory in Game 5 Wednesday night in Detroit.
The Bucks had taken an 86-85 lead on Joe Smith's jump shot with 5:52 remaining in the game. But the Pistons answered with an 8-0 run, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Billups and Richard Hamilton, to put Detroit ahead 93-86 with 3:47 remaining.
The Pistons led 95-90 when Antonio McDyess was whistled for a technical foul -- Detroit's second technical of the game -- with 2:42 remaining.
Milwaukee's Michael Redd made the free throw and was fouled on the ensuing possession, hitting another two free throws to cut the Pistons' lead to 95-93 with 2:29 remaining.
But six straight free throws by Billups, combined with missed shots and mishandled balls by the Bucks, allowed the Pistons to put away the game.
Redd led the Bucks with 33 points, including 15 in the first half to lead all scorers. The Pistons held Redd to 11 points in the first game of the series, but the Bucks' leading scorer had 40 in Saturday's victory in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee took a 76-74 lead into the fourth quarter thanks to 16 third-quarter points by T.J. Ford, but Ford picked up his fourth foul with 1:41 remaining in the period.
Billups kept pace with Ford for most of the quarter, scoring 11 points.
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