News - Pistons use third-quarter surge to top the Bucks 124-112

It was the second straight game Giannis Antetokounmpo has missed after straining his right calf early in an eventual Bucks upset of the Pistons at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 3. Kevin Porter Jr. led the Bucks with 32 points on 11 of 16 shooting in 36 minutes, including a 7-for-9 showing from behind the 3-point line. It was Porter’s second 30-point game in his last four appearances. He’s scored 108 points in those games while shooting a robust 58% from the field overall and 61.5% from beyond the arc. Porter said while he was recovering from an early-season ankle injury as well as knee surgery, at a certain point all he could do was shoot. “I tell myself, I worked, I did the hard part, just let my work show and trust it,” he said of the hot streak he's been on. Porter also did not have a live ball turnover in the game (and one total) after having four against Philadelphia on Dec. 5. He vowed after the 76ers loss he would be better at setting up the Bucks offense against the Pistons, and did just that. “Ph Philly and Detroit was my first two games with real physical defense and I feel like, maybe I wasn’t, but I felt too fast, like I was moving too fast and I was making my reads like a second too quick," Porter said. "So, I Just tried to slow down. Even when they blitzed, retreat dribble, see what’s going on, let the play develop. I was more patient I would say. It worked out when it come to turnovers.” Ryan Rollins (10 points, 4 of 14 shooting) and Myles Turner (12 points, 4 of 8 shooting) were plagued by foul trouble in the early going, and Turner scored all of his points in eight first quarter minutes. BOX SCORE: Pistons 124, Bucks 112 Jericho Sims started for the second straight in place of Antetokounmpo and had two points and four rebounds in 31 minutes. Kyle Kuzma started in place of an injured AJ Green and scored 15 points on 5 of 12 shooting. Gary Trent Jr. had 11 off the bench for Milwaukee. Cade Cunningham led seven different Pistons in double figures with 23 points. Cunningham added 12 assists and six rebounds. Jalen Duren had 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Pistons as well. The Bucks will now have four days off, as they host the Boston Celtics on Dec. 11. Rivers said he is giving the team Dec. 7-8 completely off with a late start to practice on Dec. 9, so if players want to get away they are free to. But then, they will practice Dec. 9-10. Kuzma and Porter agreed the break will be helpful as the Bucks have played their first 25 games in just 46 days, but Kuzma added the time must be used purposefully. “I think it’s a very pivotal time for us,” Kuzma said. “It’s sink or swim. We have to treat it like that.” Pistons take control out of halftime As victories continue to slip through the fingers of the Bucks, some things that are easy to grasp in the immediate aftermath are the how’s and why’s. There are the slow starts. Bunches of turnovers. Too many fouls. Being outshot from the field and the free throw line. Giving up one (or three) too many offensive rebounds. An inability to match the physical tone set by the opponent. Against Detroit, the Bucks drilled down and solved a handful of those issues, particularly in the first half when they trailed 61-56. They “hit first” in some instances and got after it on the offensive glass. They did foul quite a bit but attempted to balance it out by being more aggressive going to the rim and drawing fouls of their own. They were sharper with their ball handling while creating more turnovers of their own. But then the one thing the team has been great at – making shots – left them for just long enough for the Pistons to pull away in the third quarter and effectively clinch the game. Detroit opened the second half with a 13-3 run to take a 15-point lead. Milwaukee went 1-for-6 with a turnover in that stretch, which saw the Pistons knock down two 3-pointers and Cade Cunningham convert a 3-point play. “We knew it was going to be a tough back-to-back, so we knew we had to hit ‘em first and I think that’s how we came out," Porter said. "We was matching their physicality. I feel like we had the higher energy and the higher edge. "Third quarter we got a little lax. For me I was trying to feel the game out, try to feel how it was going, but they hit two big threes and that kind of got on that run and it kind of put us in a place of trying to fight back. "I think it kind of just put us in a little funk seeing the score go up like that after the half that we had the first half.” Though a 15-point hole early in the second half isn’t typically a deficit that is hard to come back from, the Bucks just couldn’t score enough the rest of the way to make up the difference. “I hate how we came out in the third. I thought we played perfect in the first half," Rivers said. "The turnovers, a couple bad turnovers, not many though. A couple offensive (rebounds), not many. We did everything and as I talked about before the game we were leading in the margins. "Then the second half, I thought it started right at the beginning of the third quarter. Then we kind caught of ourselves, caught ‘em, and then it started back. We gotta figure out a way of putting a 48-minute game together.” Without Giannis, Bucks struggle to score In both instances this season when Antetokounmpo has been injured, Rivers has acknowledged that the team’s margin of error to win games is very thin. And, to date, the Bucks haven't come out on the right side of that margin. Following the loss to the Pistons, the team has lost seven straight games without Antetokounmpo. “Scoring is going to be hard for us," Rivers acknowledged after the Pistons loss. "We understand that and that’s why our defense has to be better.” As for how the team can perform better without Antetokounmpo, center Myles Turner said after the Philadelphia loss that, “Well, consistency just down the board. Role clarity is something that is very important, something that I think we’re still learning. I think that we have to continue to believe in what we’re doing. "I know it was last year, but my team (in Indiana), we were 10-15 at the beginning of the year last year and made our way to the finals. So, it’s never a question of believe on my end. It’s just the collective buy-in and figuring out what that role clarity means.” And it’s no surprise that one of their biggest issues is on the offensive end. In totality, the Bucks were 20th in the league in scoring at 115.2 points per game heading into Detroit. But in the seven games Antetokounmpo missed heading into the Pistons loss, they averaged just 108.1 points. The Bucks scored 120 points or more just one time in an 11-game stretch since Nov. 14, which has had a large impact on the fact they have gone just 2-9. Antetokounmpo played four complete games in that period and left injured in two others. In starting the season 8-5, the Bucks scored 120 or more points seven different times and were 6-1 in those games. Through the seven-game losing streak in November, the Bucks kept a positive spirit and felt they turned a competitive corner without Antetokounmpo in a three-point loss to Miami on Nov. 26. Antetokounmpo returned two days later in a nine-point loss at New York, but after a fun win over Brooklyn on Nov. 29, the team, in some respects, hit rock-bottom with a three-point loss to the last-place Wizards in Washington. They bounced back with a big win over the Pistons, but fell behind by 26 points in the first half against Philadelphia. “I wouldn’t say we’re pressing,” Bobby Portis Jr. said on Dec. 5. “I would say more so just trying to play good basketball, getting the ball moving side-to-side, playing with swag, playing with energy, having fun. I think the biggest thing is just having fun. I think, when you have fun, the ball naturally comes to you, you naturally have a good spirit, you naturally do your job. In the NBA now, ‘do your job’ is multiple efforts, scrambling, guarding different positions, helping your teammate by making the extra pass, being a great teammate when you come off the court. All those things kind of go into winning. I think it’s on us just to have fun.” Did you notice? Bucks guard Ryan Rollins picked up his second foul of the first quarter at the 7-minute, 45-second mark when he chased down Pistons sharpshooter Duncan Robinson in the corner. Robinson was open and put up a 3-pointer and Rollins ran past him and hit Robinson on his shooting hand after he released the ball, an easy whistle for the referee as that specific action has been a point of emphasis for officials all season. It was yet another fouled 3-point shooter by the Bucks, which is something they do alarmingly often, and also in a way that Rivers bemoaned quite specifically before the game. 1-5: Bucks record against teams when the opponent is playing in the second game of a back-to-back. Detroit played Portland on Dec. 5. 2-3: Bucks record on the second night of back-to-backs. 1-7: Bucks record without Giannis Antetokounmpo. The team is 1-1 in games that he leaves injured in, with a loss in Cleveland and a win over Detroit. 4-13: Bucks record when they score 119 or fewer points. 22.8: Minutes per game Myles Turner has averaged his last four games heading into the Dec. 6 matchup vs. Detroit where he played 25 due to foul trouble. Even acknowledging the Bucks’ blowout vs. Brooklyn on Nov. 29 when he played 22 minutes, Turner played just fewer than 20 against the Pistons on Dec. 3 and just about 23 against Philadelphia – including only one minute in the fourth quarter. Is Giannis playing? No. The Bucks superstar will miss the second straight game since injuring his calf against the Pistons, and coach Doc Rivers believes Antetokounmpo might be out for closer to the four-week mark than not. Antetokounmpo, who was not on the Bucks bench in their loss to Philadelphia on Dec. 5, will also not be in attendance at Little Caesars Arena. “He will travel most of the time,” Rivers said after the game against the 76ers. “Our thing is, especially because this just happened, with the blood flow and all the flights and all that stuff, keep him home. After (Dec. 6), we have a four-day break. We’re going to take two days off. I think they need it through this stretch, and then we have two great days of practice, which I’m looking forward to.” More: Did Giannis request a trade? What is real and what isn’t regarding Bucks star Is AJ Green playing? Guard AJ Green exited the game against the 76ers late in the second quarter of the Bucks' 116-101 loss with an injury to his left, non-shooting, shoulder. The Bucks ruled him out at halftime with a contusion on that shoulder. Rivers said after the game that Green will travel with the team to Detroit on Dec. 6 and will get imaging on the shoulder on the road. Green absorbed a big hit on an illegal screen by 6-foot, 11-inch, 279-pound Philadelphia center Andre Drummond with 4 minutes, 4 seconds left in the second quarter. Green stayed in the game initially but after subbing out at the 2:13 mark, Green walked straight to the Bucks locker room. Green finished the half 0-for-4 from behind the three-point line in 15 minutes of action. He also had two assists. Milwaukee Bucks injury report Taurean Prince, out (neck surgery)Giannis Antetokounmpo, out (right calf strain)AJ Green, out (left shoulder contusion) Bucks starting lineup Guards: Ryan Rollins, Kevin Porter Jr.Forwards: Jericho Sims, Kyle KuzmaCenter: Myles Turner Bucks vs Pistons odds Detroit is a whopping 12.5-point favorite over Milwaukee, with the over/under set at 224.5 points, per BetMGM. What time is the Bucks game? Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT. What channel are the Bucks on? The game will be broadcast locally on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin with Lisa Byington, Marques Johnson and Melanie Ricks on the call.