Bucks vs. Pistons: Giannis Dominates In Victory

Antetokounmpo leads the way with 59 points for Milwaukee

Well, that was an exciting game. In a matchup that featured both teams without key players, the Milwaukee Bucks overtook the Detroit Pistons in OT, 127-120 behind 59 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.

What Did We Learn?

Technically, this isn’t a What Did We Learn because we already knew this, but I still have to talk about this here. Giannis Antetokounmpo was absolutely marvelous. When the Bucks needed him the most, he stepped up and delivered. With a depleted roster around him, he lifted the team onto his shoulders and delivered with a 59 point, 14 rebound, and seven assist masterpiece. All night long, he answered the bell. In the first quarter, he delivered 22 of the team’s 24 points — the only other two points were scored by Brook Lopez at the line.

Three Observations

Brook Lopez put on a fireworks display from the 3-point line.

Again, given how short-handed this Bucks team was coming into this one, scoring was going to need to be developed. Brook Lopez ended up being a big portion of that, dropping 29 points. 15 of those points came via the 3-point ball — including four of them in the second half. Additionally, he was absolutely massive on the defensive end, securing five blocks, each one seemingly bigger than the last. I mean, just look at this:

Taurean Prince was big in this one.

In 44 minutes of action, Prince was relied on in a heavy manner. He attempted eight 3-point attempts and converted on three of them and some of those were absolutely massive. He’d finish with 15 points on the night while hauling in nine rebounds, just one shy of a double-double. It may not have been the most glamorous stat line, but he still was the glue that was very much needed in a game like this. If Bobby Portis remains sidelined, he’ll likely continue to be relied on in a big manner.

Andre Jackson Jr. flashed some intensity.

We all know the type of energy that the young Buck can provide and he did the same thing last night. He didn’t do much on the offensive side of the ball scoring just four points. However, he did see over 30 minutes. In that action, he was assigned the task of defending Cade Cunningham — and he stepped up to the plate. Postgame, Taurean Prince was asked about his efforts and gave AJax some praise:

“Andre has a lot of energy, man. He reminds of myself a lot of when I first came into this league. Nine years in, my energy is still there but it’s…you gotta do some things to crank the car up, you know what I mean? Andre, he wakes up like that. He’s the same way at 10 a.m. at shootaround and 7 p.m. for the game. So, I admire that about him and I think that’s going to take him a very long way in this league.”

Up Next

The Bucks are now off until Saturday, which is when they’ll travel to Charlotte and square off against the Charlotte Hornets. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CDT and can be seen on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• In case you’ve made the move over to Bluesky, you can find myself and other Brew Hoop writers here.
• How hot was Giannis in the first quarter? He was the only Buck to make a field goal. Postgame, Doc mentioned that he has never seen a stat like that in both his playing and coaching career.
• AJ Green had a night to forget. He tallied just several points on the evening. He’ll look for a bounce-back performance Saturday in Charlotte.
• Malik Beasley had quite the revenge game. He hoisted up 15 3PA and converted on eight of them. You definitely got the feeling that he had this one circled on his calendar.
• Gary Trent Jr. had a performance that was well-needed, scoring 11 points. He connected on 3/5 threes. Postgame, Doc mentioned that he joked with him pre-game and told him to shoot the damn ball — to which Trent responded with two words — “I’m ready.” He definitely confirmed that with his performance.
• Despite not scoring a single point, Delon Wright was big in facilitating the basketball, especially with how the Bucks were lacking point guards. He racked up eight assists on the evening.
• Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with a season-high 35 points tonight, marking his second 30-point game of the season. Cunningham also dished out 11 assists for his 8th double-double of the season.
• Brandon Jennings was in the media room following this one and asked Giannis a question:

• This was a fun moment:

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