Nov 24, 2009, 7:00 GMT
Los Angeles - The San Antonio Spurs went inside and out to turn the Milwaukee Bucks upside down.
Tim Duncan dominated inside with 24 points and 12 rebounds and long-distance sharpshooter Matt Bonner fired in six threes en route to a season-high 23 points off the bench as the Spurs snapped the visiting Bucks' three-game winning streak, 112-98 on Monday night.
'It's a tough task when you have Tim Duncan in the post, who is one of the best players in the league, and then you have Matt shooting the way he was tonight,' Bucks guard Charlie Bell said. 'It is very tough to guard. Matt did a great job making the shots tonight.
'It was one of those nights everything was falling and teammates did a good job of finding me when I was open,' Bonner said. 'I wish I could have kept on shooting.'
George Hill netted 14 points and Richard Jefferson and Mason added 11 apiece for the Spurs, (6-6) who without Argentine ace Manu Ginobili, (left groin strain), outscored the Bucks 62-47 in the second half to pull away for their second consecutive victory following a three-game slide.
San Antonio was picked by pundits to challenge NBA Champion LA Lakers for Western Conference supremacy this season. However, the four-time champions are off to a slow start, because of injuries to key players and a revamped squad consisting of many new faces.
'The Spurs have spoiled so many people by winning so many games in the past years, they don't know how to take losing, but it happens,' Hill said. 'We know we're not playing great right now, but 53 per cent of our team is new and it's going to take time.
'It's a marathon, not a sprint,' he continued. 'We want to play great in March, May and June, try to finish this race strong and win a championship. I think we're going on the right direction.'
Turkish native Ersan Illyasova scored a team-best 20 points for Milwaukee (8-4), which had won seven of its previous eight outings. Hakeem Warrick added 15, but rookie sensation Brandon Jennings was held to 12, well below his 25 per game average.
All-Star guard Michael Redd returned with four points after missing the last nine games with a strained tendon in his left knee.
Trailing most of the first half, the Bucks closed on a 15-2 flurry to take a 51-50 edge at the break. However Duncan flexed his muscles for 15 points and Bonner added eight, including a pair of threes. The Spurs outscored the Bucks 37-24 in the decisive third period to take an 86-74 cushion into the final 12 minutes.
'In the third quarter we really picked up our defence, both individually and as a team,' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. 'It fuelled us and helped our offence going.'
The Spurs' lead swelled to 108-87 on Bonner's final triple, with three minutes left before coasting to the win.
'Out of about 48 minutes, we had about five good minutes of defence. Other than that it wasn't near a good enough effort,' Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. 'That's a good club, you have to be on at all times. We were too up and down.'
Elsewhere:
Memphis Grizzlies 116, Sacramento Kings 105
Rudy Gay scored 24 points, OJ Mayo had 20, and Spaniard Marc Gasol contributed 18 as the Grizzlies rolled to their fourth win in the last five games.
Sacramento (5-8) lost its fourth in a row, despite 28 points from rookie Tyreke Evans, who hit all 10 of his field goals attempts.
Portland Trail Blazers 122, Chicago Bulls 98
Greg Oden matched his career best with 24 points, along with 12 rebounds. LaMarcus Aldridge also had 24 with a game-high 13 boards, and the Trail Blazers ran past the travel-weary Bulls.
Luol Deng scored 25 points and John Salmons added 22 for Chicago (6-7) playing the fourth of six straight road games in a two-week period.
LA Clippers 91, Minnesota Timberwolves 87
Al Thornton scored a season-high 31, while Baron Davis hit the game-sealing layup - his only points of the night- with 8.5 seconds left, and the Clippers (5-9) extended the Timberwolves' losing streak to 13 games.
Rookie Jonny Flynn had 17 points, Al Jefferson finished with 13 and 13 rebounds for visiting Minnesota (1-13) which opened the season with a victory over winless New Jersey last month.
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