NBA Game Preview - San Antonio at Milwaukee
Sat Jan 4, 2020 8:30 PM EST

MEM
140
LAC
114
F
TOR
121
BKN
102
F
UTA
109
ORL
96
F
OKC
121
CLE
106
F
IND
111
ATL
116
F
DEN
114
WAS
128
F
BOS
111
CHI
104
F
SA
118
MIL
127
F
DET
111
GS
104
F
CHA
123
DAL
120
F(OT)
NO
117
SAC
115
F
Bucks riding high as they host the up-and-down Spurs
Sat Jan 4, 2020 2:37 AM

The Milwaukee Bucks have, by far, the best record in the NBA, but that will mean nothing when they host the enigmatic San Antonio Spurs on Saturday for the first of back-to-back, away-and-home games between the two teams.

The Bucks and Spurs will also tussle on Monday in San Antonio.

Milwaukee welcomes the Spurs after a rough-and-tumble 106-104 win at home over Minnesota on New Year's Day. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and 17 rebounds in the victory, securing his 30th double-double in 33 games this season.

Khris Middleton added 13 points for the Bucks despite shooting 5 for 18 from the floor. Brook Lopez scored 11 points and Eric Bledsoe had 10.

Milwaukee shot just 42.6 percent from the field and hit only 9 of 36 from beyond the arc.

"We're not playing our best, but still finding a way to win is good," Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer said afterward. "But this isn't the formula."

The triumph was the fourth in a row for Milwaukee and seventh in its past eight games. The Bucks (31-5) are off to the best 36-game start in franchise history. The 1971-72 squad, led by Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, dropped game No. 36 for a 30-6 mark.

The Bucks have not lost to a team this year with a record below .500.

"You don't even think about that," Antetokounmpo said. "We just go out there and we feel like we're gonna win the game, and that we're going to get the job done. Doesn't really matter if the opponent is above .500 or below .500. We just take it day by day, try to be in the present, hopefully, a lot of good moments for the team."

The Spurs begin the double-dip against the league's best after a 109-104 loss at home to surging Oklahoma City on Thursday.

The Thunder won a regular-season game in San Antonio for the first time since Dec. 25, 2014, outscoring the Spurs 63-48 in the second half.

DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 30 points for San Antonio, which had a two-game winning streak snapped. It was DeRozan's sixth straight game of more than 21 points.

LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Lonnie Walker IV pumped in 16 points off the bench, nine of them in the fourth quarter, in the loss.

Aldridge went 4 for 4 on 3-pointers just two games after setting a career-high with five 3-pointers.

The Spurs had been winning of late by attacking the basket and by finding some key points from 3-point range. That changed Thursday against the Thunder, prompting San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich to criticize his team's lack of aggressiveness.

"We didn't move the ball very well -- we were on the dribble too much," Popovich told to San Antonio Express-News. "We didn't really attack. They attacked a lot better than we did, just straight ahead at the rim, found people."

The Bucks and Spurs split their season series last year, with each team winning on their home court. San Antonio owns a 49-40 all-time edge over the Bucks but is just 19-26 in games played in Milwaukee.

Budenholzer was an assistant coach with the Spurs for 17 seasons and spent his first two seasons as a video coordinator

--Field Level Media

Team Record Comparison

Standings GB W-L Aw/Hm Stk L10
San Antonio  
Milwaukee  

Hot Players (Last 10 team games)

Injury Report

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