Sixers disappear late, drop road game to Bucks

Milwaukee, WI -- O.J. Mayo scored 25 points off the bench and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 93-81 in a matchup between last year's two worst teams on Friday night.

The Sixers failed to score a point in the final 8:21, missing all 13 of their shots and turning the ball over four times. Philly, which posted just seven points over the game's final 12 minutes, faces a tougher test on Saturday in their home opener against the four-time defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat.

"We missed a lot of shots ... We just couldn't score," Sixers head coach Brett Brown said.
Jabari Parker had 11 points and 10 rebounds, Brandon Knight tallied 13 points, eight assists and seven boards while Larry Sanders added 15 rebounds for Milwaukee, which fell at Charlotte in overtime in its season opener on Wednesday night.

"We closed the game out and it came from the defensive end," Parker said. "We just came together and pulled through."

Nerlens Noel posted his first career double-double, finishing with 14 points and 10 boards for the Sixers, who lost at Indiana in their first game of the year Wednesday night.

Hollis Thompson's triple with 8:21 remaining cut the Sixers deficit to 82-81. Mayo scored five points, including a game-ending clip starting jumper and a later triple, as the Bucks outscored them 11-0 the rest of the way.

Philadelphia was 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) from the floor and Milwaukee scored 15 points on eight Sixers turnovers in the final frame.

Earlier, the game was tied 24-24 after a quarter of play and Philadelphia led 47-46 at the break thanks to nine from Noel and eight by Thompson.

Neither team led by more than five in the third -- including Philly by a 73-68 margin with 1:39 left -- and the Sixers took a 74-73 edge into the fourth.

Notes: The Bucks have won 14 of 26 home games against the Sixers since 2000, including four in a row and seven of the last eight ... Milwaukee scored 23 points off 18 Philadelphia giveaways ... The Sixers were 5-of-23 (21.7 percent) from beyond the arc and 12-of-22 (54.5 percent) from the foul line ... The Bucks held a 55-42 rebounding advantage.