The Milwaukee Bucks hosted the Detroit Pistons at Fiserv Forum on Wednesday night, where the Bucks were able to take the lead late in the game thanks to an explosive 4th quarter performance from Damian Lillard to help beat the Pistons 120-118. This is the Bucks’ third straight win this season.
Milwaukee Bucks Rally to Beat Detroit Pistons
It was a rather emotional night at Fiserv Forum on Wednesday night. Technical fouls being called left and right, heated exchanges between officials and players, and boos coming from the stands.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was ejected in the third quarter after facing his second technical foul, which apparently was for taunting a defender after a dunk. Antetokounmpo is known for his “mean mug”, but guess the officials weren’t fans of that and threw him from the game. He had received a technical earlier in the game after he argued with refs about not getting a foul call.
Prior to his ejection, he had 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting, and nine rebounds in 22 minutes of play.
It was a slow start for both teams, the Bucks were just 2-for-10 from being the three, but they were able to take a 24-23 lead after the first quarter.
Bobby Portis added 13 points to help bring Milwaukee to a 62-52 lead at the half. Portis ended his night with 18 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
Once Antetokounmpo was ejected, Lillard stepped in and brought the Bucks within 113-112 with just two minutes remaining in the game. His short jump shot then gave the Bucks the lead, and a Brook Lopez three-pointer sealed the victory for Milwaukee.
Cade Cunningham had 33 points with eight rebounds and eight assists and Marcus Sasser had a career-high 26 points on 11-for-17 shooting and grabbed six rebounds for the Pistons, who were out six players due to injury and illness. Jalen Duran also returned to play for Detroit after missing two games due to ankle soreness and was able to tally an 11-point, 12 rebound, and five-assist double double.
The Pistons were able to hold a 10 point lead midway through the fourth quarter thanks to two free throws by Cunningham, but Jae Crowder hit the second of two free throws with just 3.9 seconds remaining to give the Bucks a 120-118 lead.
Khris Middleton did not play in Wednesday’s contest for right knee management. This is the second game this season he has missed. In place of Middleton, Crowder started on Wednesday and on Oct. 29 when Middleton missed that game as well. Crowder finished Wednesday’s game with 10 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
Other scorers for the Bucks included MarJon Beauchamp, who had 10 points and two rebounds, Malik Beasley with 10 points, six rebounds and two assists, and Brook Lopez who had 14 points, six rebounds and four blocks.
The Milwaukee Bucks will travel to Indiana to face the Pacers on Thursday as a set of back-to-back series of games, hoping to stretch their winning streak to four games and bring their record to 6-2.
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