SAN ANTONIO _ On paper, the Milwaukee Bucks have a fun, fast-paced offense with multiple weapons around Giannis Antetokounmpo.
They also feature a swarming defense filled with long-limbed defenders who block shots, get deflections and steal passes on a regular basis.
They didn't quite reach their Platonic ideal on Friday night against the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center, but they got much closer than they have in recent games. More importantly, the Bucks came through with a win to close out their road trip, holding off the Spurs, 94-87, to end a four-game losing skid.
Antetokounmpo paced the Bucks with a game-high 28 points to go with 12 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. New-addition Eric Bledsoe, who had just one shootaround to get acclimated to his teammates, got off to a strong start in his Bucks debut, finishing with 13 points, seven assists, four rebounds and a steal.
Bledsoe came through in the clutch when the Bucks needed a late bucket.
Clinging to a two-point lead, Milwaukee called timeout with 1:49 left. Bledsoe got the ball on the ensuing possession and buried a jumper that gave the Bucks some breathing room. One stop and a Khris Middleton swish later, Milwaukee had all the cushion it would need.
San Antonio's 87 points were the fewest allowed by Milwaukee's much-maligned defense this season. That came in large part to the Bucks creating live-ball turnovers along with blocking seven shots. The Spurs turned the ball over 18 times, with 10 of those coming by way of the Bucks' season-high 10 steals.
Many of those were live-ball turnovers leading to runouts with the Bucks turning those opportunities into 19 fast-break points. No fast-break finish was prettier than John Henson's second-quarter steal, which turned into an alley-oop from Bledsoe to Antetokounmpo that the Greek Freak caught and threw down one-handed.
Milwaukee's bench, which has had up-and-down results this season, turned in one of its better performances. Head coach Jason Kidd mixed and matched his lineup often throughout the night and found useful combinations. He put Bledsoe, Malcolm Brogdon and Matthew Dellavedova on the court together early and they made a run to keep the game close in the first quarter.
Brogdon, who moved to the bench to accommodate Bledsoe, went 0 for 3 in the first half but helped close out the win down the stretch, finishing with nine points and seven rebounds. Dellavedova had nine points as well, Thon Maker added four with six rebounds and DeAndre Liggins added three.
