Rapid Recap: Bucks 96, Pistons 105

The Milwaukee Bucks lost against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, 105-96. This was the Bucks’ third consecutive loss.

The Bucks entered this game having lost two straight, looking bad at home against Oklahoma City and giving up everything on the road against Charlotte. Milwaukee needed a win to stay above .500, while Detroit sought to build up their buffer against their Central Division rival. After tonight’s game, Detroit sits pretty at 6-3, while Milwaukee falls further below expectations at 4-5. Things are, as they say, not all good.

The Bucks started out hot, but Detroit’s physicality eroded Milwaukee’s effectiveness and carried the Pistons to leading well into the fourth quarter. A handful of mini-runs from the Bucks made the game quasi-competitive, but none of them were anywhere near enough to make the difference the team needed.

Giannis was not able to break out of the funk that has coincided with the Bucks’ recent skid, but still put up an impressive stat line of 29 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 blocks. His efficiency, however, has suffered greatly, as Giannis took 27 shots (with only two free throw attempts), and went 5-14 on shots taken outside of the paint. He did at least contribute his obligatory spectacular dunk:

In other news, Malcolm Brogdon continued his steady sophomore campaign with 21 points and 10 assists, and while another scoring explosion would have been appreciated, Khris Middleton contributed a solid 16 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds. Tony Snell also added 12 points, and Thon Maker (who played generally awful) hit a pair of threes on his way to 9 points. Detroit was powered by Andre Drummond’s 24 point/15 rebound performance, and additional cushion was given by Avery Bradley (23 points) and former Buck Tobias Harris (13 points).

Stat That Stood Out

Once again, the Milwaukee Bucks were badly outpaced in shooting fouls drawn, coming out on the wrong side of a 28-9 free throw comparison. The 19 foul shot disparity is not a new occurrence for the Bucks, who look awful on offense when their threes aren’t falling (which they somewhat did tonight, making 10/25 from deep).