Frank Hamblen wore the look of a relieved man. It took three games to get his first NBA coaching victory with the Milwaukee Bucks and now he could savor the moment.
"This feels a lot better. It will be a lot of fun going to practice," Hamblen said after the Bucks beat the San Antonio Spurs 102-83 Sunday night in Milwaukee behind a season-high 19 steals and the play of veteran center Moses Malone."I think they wanted to get it for me and I appreciate it," said Hamblen, a long-time NBA assistant who replaced Del Harris on Dec. 4.
And beating the Spurs was especially pleasing because Hamblen was once an assistant under Spurs coach Larry Brown in Denver.
"It was a special win for me because it was the first one and because I coached with Larry Brown for years. I think he's one of the best coaches in the game."
The 36-year-old Malone had 21 points and 14 rebounds, outplaying Spurs center David Robinson, who is 10 years younger. Robinson finished with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 6 steals.
"It doesn't make any difference who I play against. I just come to play every night," Malone said. "This is a great feeling for the coach. Now we just have to keep on playing."
Dale Ellis added 17 points and ex-Spur Alvin Robertson triggered a third-quarter surge as the Bucks sent the Spurs to their fourth straight loss.
"We just lost our confidence," said San Antonio forward Sean Elliott, who had 18 points. "We wanted to play tough defense and we went down and missed too many shots. We need to find a way to pick it up," he said.
The Bucks enjoyed a 31-13 advantage at the free-throw line where Malone hit 13 of 14.
Robertson made three steals, had four points and two assists to spur a 14-4 third-quarter run as Milwaukee opened up a 66-53 lead with 5:56 to go in the period. Robertson finished with five steals.
San Antonio chopped the margin to seven but a 3-pointer by Jeff Grayer helped the Bucks build the lead back to 74-62 entering the final quarter.
Danny Schayes then had eight points and Ellis added six in a 14-5 spurt to begin the fourth quarter and Milwaukee had an 88-67 lead with seven minutes left.
Lakers 103, Mavericks 88
A.C. Green and Byron Scott led a balanced attack with 16 points each and the Lakers held Dallas to a club record-low 28-point first half.
The Lakers, 7-0 at the Forum since Magic Johnson announced his retirement on Nov. 7, have won 12 of their last 15 to tie idle Golden State for first place in the Pacific Division.