Spurs at Bucks
The San Antonio Spurs are hoping to follow a tough stretch with a second consecutive victory when they visit the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. San Antonio dropped seven of nine games before registering a solid 111-100 win at Indiana on Friday.
Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge contributed 33 points and 14 rebounds in the victory that saw the Spurs hold a 19-point, fourth quarter lead. "It was a good win for us," Aldridge told reporters. "Now we're back in the mix, for sure. It felt good to get a win. We came in and played good defense, made a minimum of mistakes, and I thought we stuck to the game plan and got a good win." The Bucks suffered a dreadful 116-114 home loss to Phoenix on Friday, marking the first time the Suns have prevailed in nine road games this season. Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a season-high 35 points on 14-of-16 shooting against the Suns - his sixth 30-point performance of the campaign.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV, FS Southwest (San Antonio), FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
ABOUT THE SPURS (9-9): Aldridge made 14-of-25 shots against Indiana after scoring 10 or fewer points in three of the previous five games and shooting 30 percent or worse in four of the contests. "When your stars are rolling, that's always better," coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. "If they're not, you hope that somebody else can pick up the slack. Until people learn the system and learn how to play with each other, it's going to take us a little more time than most people." Shooting guard DeMar DeRozan recorded just 16 points against the Pacers after averaging 24.3 over his previous six games.
ABOUT THE BUCKS (13-5): Center Brook Lopez had a forgettable shooting performance against Phoenix, missing all 12 3-point attempts and going 3-for-17 overall for seven points. "It's a surprise, he's a great shooter," coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters. "But it's part of the sport, part of being a shooter. Some nights, it's not your night. I think probably one of the positives was, he kept shooting. His teammates have a ton of confidence in him, I have a lot of confidence in him." Lopez is averaging just six points over his last three games while going 7-for-30, including 3-for-22 from beyond the arc.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Bucks swept last season's two-game series and have beaten the Spurs three consecutive times.
2. Milwaukee rookie G Donte DiVincenzo (knee/quadriceps) is slated to miss his fifth straight game.
3. San Antonio SF Rudy Gay recorded 11 points and 12 rebounds against the Pacers for his fourth double-double of the season.