Aldridge posted his second-highest point total of the season and scored at least 30 points for the seventh time. He led the Spurs in scoring for the 35th time, shot 13-of-24 and made all eight free throw attempts.

Patty Mills added 25 and set a career high with seven 3-pointers. He finished 7-of-8 from behind the arc and came within two of the team record for 3-pointers set by Chuck Person on Dec. 30, 1997.

The big performances by Aldridge and Mills occurred on a night the Spurs were without Kawhi Leonard (quadriceps) and Manu Ginobili (right thigh contusion). Leonard is out indefinitely, while Ginobili is day-to-day.

Allen Crabbe led the Nets with 20 points while Joe Harris scored 18 points, but Brooklyn lost its fifth straight home game and fell for the sixth time in seven games. Caris LeVert added 13, and Spencer Dinwiddie handed out a career-best 13 assists while shooting 3-of-13.

Aldridge scored 14 points as the Spurs took a 17-point lead midway through the third quarter.

Mills hit his fifth 3-pointer with 1:41 remaining in the first half and his sixth with 94 seconds remaining in the third as the Spurs carried a 76-64 edge into the fourth. Mills set his career high on San Antonio's first possession of the fourth with a 29-foot shot.

Then the Spurs held on.

They held their last double-digit lead at 81-70 on a layup by Danny Green with eight minutes remaining.

Aldridge hit consecutive 11-footers to make it 87-81 with about five minutes left. He then missed on consecutive possessions, and Dinwiddie cut it to 91-88 by converting a 3-point play with 2:16 remaining.

After neither team scored for the next minute, Aldridge finished it off with a three-point play with 53 seconds remaining. Mills then capped his big night with two free throws for a 97-89 lead with 29 seconds left.

--Field Level Media