Mills helps keep Spurs on track

PATTY Mills has helped the San Antonio Spurs claim another NBA win but there was no such joy for fellow Australians Matthew Dellavedova, Thon Maker and Joe Ingles.

Guard Mills had 11 points in 22 minutes, including two three-pointers, in San Antonio’s 109-97 home victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points in his most productive game this sea- son, which was delayed by injury, while LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 for Spurs.

The Spurs are third in the western conference at 24-11.

In Milwaukee, Maker produced a big block in the third quarter to deny Nikola Mirotic but the Chicago Bulls forward had the final say with 24 points in a 115-106 road win over the Bucks. It was an eighth win for the Bulls in their past 10 games while the Bucks slipped to sev- enth in the east at 17-15. Dellavedova had five points and five assists for the Bucks, who were led by Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 28 points.

Ingles had eight points and seven rebounds for the Utah Jazz in a 107-83 loss at conference rivals the Denver Nuggets.

Elsewhere, the Dallas Mavericks ended the six-game winning streak of the Toronto Raptors 98-93. Tobias Harris scored 30 points to help the Detroit Pistons rout the Indiana Pacers 107-83 and the Miami Heat saw off the struggling Orlando Magic 107-89. Tyson Chandler dunked Dragan Bender’s inbounds pass with 0.4sec remaining to give the Phoenix Suns a 99-97 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies while the Los Angeles Clippers humbled the Sacramento Kings 122-95.