Milwaukee’s Defense Too much for Detroit as Bucks Win 7th Straight

Lots of familiar faces were in the building Saturday night as the Pistons came into the Fiserv Forum to face the Bucks. Thon Maker, Tony Snell, Christian Wood, and Tim Frazier, who all played for Milwaukee last season now play for Detroit. “As I went through their depth chart, I was like “wow.” don’t remember having four from a previous team, previous season and then playing them. Maybe its happened, but I do not recall,” said head coach Mike Budenholzer pregame.

If you are one for the drama, this was not the game for you, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that there were some highlight plays. Giannis Antetokounmpo threw down multiple alley-oops and highlight dunks, having six dunks on the night. Pat Connaughton had a flashy behind the back pass that led to George Hill beating the halftime buzzer with a three and fan favorite D.J. Wilson had some strong finishes including an alley-oop slam and a tough layup over Andre Drummond late.

But in terms of drama, the bucks were having none of that. For the second straight game, Milwaukee held the lead for the entirety. Detroit, who was without all-star Blake Griffin because of a left leg injury, stayed close until the fourth quarter when Milwaukee finally pulled away.

Milwaukee (13-3) started the fourth quarter with a 17-3 run, holding Detroit (5-11) scoreless for the first 6 minutes to jump out to a 22-point lead. From there, Milwaukee went on their way for their seventh straight victory, 104-90, and kept sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference. “It’s going to continue to get better and it has to if we want to get where we want to go,” said Bucks guard Wesley Matthews about Milwaukee’s defense. “It’s such a two-way sport – offense takes care of the defense, defense takes care of the offense.”

Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee again with 28 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and two steals. He recorded his 16^th straight double-double to start the season, the first player since Moses Malone to do so for the Houston Rockets in 1981. He was the spark of the Bucks’ fourth quarter start, opening the period with a top of the key three-pointer, followed by back to back layups. He only logged 4 ½ minutes in the quarter, as that is all Milwaukee needed before they could take care of business.

Early in the season, Milwaukee would struggle to hold big leads, but this was not the case on Saturday as they kept a healthy lead throughout the fourth quarter. “We’re getting better, but I think we can get a lot better,” said the MVP about holding leads. “I think we, at times, when we’re up 10 or 12 at the end of the quarter we all of a sudden give up two threes, give up an easy layup and we’re up four instead of just being focused and closing out the quarter and the half. We’re definitely getting better, but we can be a lot better and a little bit more careful.”

Antetokounmpo was given plenty of support by his teammates too, Matthews scored 13, guard Eric Bledsoe scored 11 points, five assists, and 2 steals, big man Brook Lopez put up 7 points and was the heart of the defense with four blocks, and forward Sterling Brown served a positive role off the bench with seven points and 10 rebounds. Forward Ersan Ilyasova missed the game with left heel soreness, which opened the door for Wilson to back up Antetokounmpo. He went three of five from the floor, recording seven points, four rebounds, and two assists in just 15 minutes of action.

Milwaukee finished with 10 steals and eight blocks. Budenholzer was very impressed with how his team handled the physical play and dribble hand-offs of Pistons center Drummond. “The kind of wear and tear on your guards and the discipline and the focus and the effort it takes…it’s just like a physical challenge the whole night,” he said. “So I think for the group to step up to that challenge is a good sign for us.”

The Bucks will return to action on Monday night as the Utah Jazz visit the Fiserv Forum.