SAN ANTONIO — DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points, and Patty Mills added 21 off the bench as the San Antonio Spurs waltzed past the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 126-104 on Monday in the Alamo City, snapping a two-game losing streak.

The game was the second in a home-and-away, back-to-back, two-game set between the two teams. Milwaukee won the first game, on Saturday, 127-118.

The Spurs (15-20) led by 10 points after three quarters and ran their advantage to 16 points early in the final period. Milwaukee closed to within 100-89 with 8:12 to play but never made a serious run down the stretch.

It was DeRozan’s eighth straight game with 20 or more points.

LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay scored 17 points each for the Spurs, with Dejounte Murray scoring 13 points and Trey Lyles pulling down 12 rebounds. San Antonio set its season-high with 19 3-pointers (on 35 attempts) in the win.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Milwaukee (32-6). It was the first time this season the Bucks have dropped a game to a team with a record below .500 and their biggest losing margin of the year.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 24 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists but missed all five 3-point attempts. Donte DiVincenzo added 16 points, George Hill and Khris Middleton had 15 apiece, and Wesley Matthews had 12 points for the Bucks.

San Antonio led for the majority of the first half and by as many as 18 points before assuming a 65-52 lead at halftime.

The Spurs had four players in double-figure-scoring in the first half, led by DeRozan’s 15 points. Mills added 12 points off the bench, while Murray and Aldridge had 10 each over the first two quarters.

San Antonio outshot the Bucks 52.3 percent to 38 percent in the first half, and went 12 of 20 (60 percent) from beyond the arc compared to 9 of 26 (34.6 percent) for Milwaukee.

DiVincenzo led the Bucks with 11 points over the first 24 minutes, with Antetokounmpo adding 10 in the first half.

The Bucks climbed back to within 81-76 on Hill’s 3-pointer with 2:35 to play in the third quarter, but Mills canned two 3-pointers in the final two minutes to build a 91-81 lead heading into the final quarter.

76ERS OUTLAST THUNDER
Josh Richardson scored 23 points and Ben Simmons added 17 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists as the host Philadelphia 76ers held off the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-113 on Monday.

Tobias Harris scored 18 points and Joel Embiid had 18 points, nine rebounds and a season-high eight assists for the Sixers, who improved to 17-2 at home and also snapped a four-game losing streak.

Al Horford scored 13 points.

Steven Adams led the Thunder with a season-best 24 points to go along with 15 rebounds while Dennis Schroeder added 21 points.

Chris Paul and Danilo Gallinari had 18 points each for the Thunder, who had their five-game winning streak broken.

The Sixers took advantage of a late 13-2 run to go ahead 62-52 at halftime. Oklahoma City led for a good portion of the half before suffering through a scoreless drought of more than three-and-a-half minutes.

There were some anxious moments for the Sixers as Embiid went to the locker room twice in the first quarter. The result was a dislocated finger on his left hand, which was taped by athletic trainer Kevin Johnson. Embiid was able to return to the game.

Schroeder paced the Thunder with 11 points while Adams was effective with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Harris led the Sixers with 13 points but was stuck on the bench at the end with three fouls.

Oklahoma City hung around and trailed 77-73 after Gallinari hit a pair of free throws with 4:54 remaining in the third to cap a 16-6 spurt.

Backup point guard Trey Burke knocked down a late 3-pointer and a jumper as the Sixers took a 90-86 advantage after the third.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drove to the basket and closed the Thunder within 101-99 with 6:18 left in the fourth.

Mike Scott responded with a 3-pointer on the next Philadelphia possession to expand the lead back to five.

After Embiid made a jumper, Gallinari came back with a trey to cut the Sixers’ lead to 106-104 with 3:58 remaining.

Harris later threw down a dunk for a 110-106 lead with 2:06 left. The Sixers then scored the next five points to seal the win. — Reuters

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