The San Antonio Spurs (15-20) rained down a barrage of three-pointers to cruise to a 126-104 win over the Milwaukee Bucks (32-6), handing them their first loss since Christmas Day.
DeMar DeRozan led the charge with 25 points, while LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay chipped in 17 points apiece. Patty Mills gave the Spurs a huge offensive boost off the bench, knocking down six 3-pointers on his way to 21 points.
Nine different players hit a three-pointer in the win as the Spurs knocked down a season-high 19 triples on 35 attempts.
The Spurs took a 10-point lead into half-time, behind a 38-point second quarter, their highest-scoring quarter this season. They went 12-of-20 from deep in the first half, tying their franchise record for most threes in a half.
The Bucks continued to chip away at the lead in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 81-76, before Mills buried a pair of threes in the final two minutes to stretch the lead back to 10 heading into the fourth.
.@Patty_Mills out here dancing and splashing 👀 pic.twitter.com/XnmvrtS1Uj
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 7, 2020
After they extended the lead to 16 points early in the final frame, the Bucks cut the deficit to 100-89 with 8:12 remaining, but they simply culdn't overcome the early damage inflicted from the three-point line.
With the ball zipping around the perimeter, the Spurs racked up 23 assists on 45 made field goals, with DeRozan dishing out a team-high seven dimes.
DeMar DeRozan scored 25 PTS on 11-15 shooting (73%) Monday night, his eighth straight game with more than 20 points and a field-goal percentage of 50% or higher. That's the longest such streak for any @spurs player since San Antonio joined the @NBA in 1976-77. pic.twitter.com/RcYvMNciGt
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) January 7, 2020
DeRozan was efficient shooting the ball, with his 25 points coming on 11-of-15 from the field and has now scored 20+ points in eight-straight games for the Spurs.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 24 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, but missed all five of his three-point attempts as the Spurs sent a string of long defenders at him, with LaMarcus Aldridge, Trey Lyles and Jakob Poeltl closing out hard all night.
Donte DiVincenzo added 16 points, George Hill and Khris Middleton had 15 apiece as the Bucks dropped their first game this season to a team under .500.