MILWAUKEE -- Once again, defense saved the day for the Milwaukee Bucks, who extended their winning streak to a season-high six games Saturday night with a 102-95 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Bradley Center.

The Bucks recorded six defensive stops over the final 2:48 to hold off a Timberwolves team that trailed by one point to start the fourth quarter and erased a nine-point deficit to get within two on Ricky Rubio's jumper with 2:49 to play.

"We didn't even attempt a shot on a couple of the possessions," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "That just shows how much confidence we have in our defense."

Minnesota made 7 of 22 shots in the final quarter and scored two points down the stretch as Milwaukee hit 5 of 6 free throws to close out the victory.

"We didn't play well in the fourth quarter," Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau said. "You're talking about one of the hottest teams in the league right now and this is six in a row for them. ... I knew coming in we were going to have to be at our best. We got off to a slow start, we didn't close the half well, we didn't start the fourth well and that created a problem."

Milwaukee was clicking on offense, getting double-digit scoring from seven different players.

Tony Snell led that group with 19 points. Snell knocked down four 3-pointers as did Matthew Dellavedova, who finished with 16 points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had a relatively quiet night on offense, scoring 18 points, but was a major force defensively down the stretch, despite playing with five fouls for much of the final quarter.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 35 to lead Minnesota. Towns connected on 14 of 21 shots including three 3-pointers while grabbing 14 rebounds with a steal and two blocked shots.

Rubio had 22 with eight assists and Andrew Wiggins finished with 11, but the Timberwolves couldn't buy a basket in the closing minutes.

"We got some good looks," Towns said. "I think we did a good job but it comes down to that they made shots. They made more shots than us in the fourth quarter. That's the game of basketball. We have to move on and get ready for Monday."

The Bucks made one of their first eight attempts from the floor but overcame 39.1 percent shooting to take a 23-19 lead after one quarter.

Towns scored 10 of his 16 first-half points in the second quarter to tie the score at 48 heading into halftime.

Minnesota hit 10 of 18 shots from the field in the third quarter, including three 3-pointers, but Milwaukee closed out strong, getting a 3-pointer from Snell with 1:35 left to take a 76-75 lead through three quarters.

A 9-2 run to open the fourth quarter allowed Milwaukee to stretch the lead to 85-77.

"There are a lot of tired bodies in that locker room," Kidd said. "Nobody quit when things weren't going well for us there on the offensive end. The guys stuck together, played defense and came up with big stops. The trust level is extremely high but now we have to keep that going on the road."

The victory allowed Milwaukee to maintain a half-game lead over Miami for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

NOTES: Milwaukee was without PG Malcolm Brogdon (back) and F Mirza Teletovic (hamstring) for a second consecutive night. ... Khris Middleton scored 11 points Saturday and reached double figures in seven consecutive games. .... Milwaukee's six-game winning streak is the team's longest since a six-game run from March 9-20, 2012. .... Minnesota C Karl-Anthony Towns tallied his 13th 30-point game of the season and his 50th double-double of the season. ... The Bucks held opponents to fewer than 100 points in a season-high five straight games. Milwaukee is 18-4 this season when its opponent scores fewer than 100 points. ... Minnesota snapped a four-game losing streak to Milwaukee earlier this season with a 117-95 victory in Minneapolis, but the Timberwolves have lost three in a row in Milwaukee.