SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs bounced back from a disappointing loss on Saturday to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers, 123-96, at the AT&T Center on Monday night.
Rudy Gay scored 21 points while LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan each scored 20. Davis Bertans had 16 points off the bench to help the Spurs improve to 16-15.
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The Spurs went 5-1 during their homestand and, more important, got a quality win after falling to the lowly Bulls. The loss to Chicago still stung days later.
#Spurs Rudy Gay on #Sixers win, team not letting another big lead get away.."last game we let up, we couldn't let that happen again"..Gay also asked about solid season to date, "thats something I can answer at the end of the season, when we win a championship" #ksatsports #NBA pic.twitter.com/o1F5hgwuND
— RJ Marquez (@KSATRJ) December 18, 2018
"We let that one go," Gay said. "We had a 20-point lead and end up losing. That's uncalled for. We couldn't let that happen today."
The Sixers jumped out early and led 32-29 after the first quarter. But the Spurs turned the game in the second quarter and outscored Philadelphia 31-17.
They led 60-49 at halftime and never looked back, holding Sixers all-star Joel Embiid to 13 points.
#Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich on tonight’s bounce back win against #Sixers...says defensively team “has a little bit more rhyme and reason to what they are doing”...SA goes 5-1 during homestand #ksatsports #nba #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/wEJOgI2muJ
— RJ Marquez (@KSATRJ) December 18, 2018
It was the fifth straight opponent San Antonio held to under 100 points.
"Defensively, we've got a little bit more rhyme and reason to what we're doing and it's shown in this homestand," said head coach Gregg Popovich said. "I'm pleased with the progress (but) we still have a long way to go."
The Spurs will now hit the road for a game at Orlando Wednesday night.
The Magic beat San Antonio 117-110 earlier this season and the Spurs will look to return the favor with a new sense of defensive prowess.