© Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports
The Milwaukee Bucks rally past the Detroit Pistons
The Milwaukee Bucks sustained Giannis Antetokounmpo’s ejection and a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to pull out a dramatic 120-118 win over the undermanned but hard-fighting Detroit Pistons squad on Wednesday night.
Damian Lillard exploded in the fourth quarter, and Brook Lopez came up with some crucial plays down the stretch as the Bucks escaped with their third straight win and fifth overall in seven games.
Detroit came into the duel missing six players, and Milwaukee capitalized on the opponent’s handicap by building a 62-52 lead at the half. The lead increased to 73-60 on a dunk by Giannis Antetokounmpo at the nine-minute mark of the third quarter.
Controversial call against Giannis
The game, however, took a different twist when Giannis got slapped with a technical foul for taunting shortly after making the rim-rattling drunk in front of Isaiah Stewart. Giannis had been assessed with a technical foul late in the second quarter for supposedly using profanity while contesting a non-call.
Giannis’ ejection seemed to fire up Detroit as they staged a major rally that saw them outscore the Bucks in the third 43-28 to take a 95-90 lead into the final period. A three-point play by Marcus Sasser gave the Pistons their biggest lead at 109-99 with 7:14 to go.
Another “Dame Time” moment
As things started to look bleak for the Bucks, Lillard went to work, willing the Bucks back into the game by sparking a huge run.
In a crucial stretch, Lillard scored eight straight points, including a jump shot that pushed Milwaukee ahead, 116-115, with only 1:15 left. Then after two straight missed attempts by the Pistons, Lopez dropped a long bomb, sending the Fiserv Forum into frenzied celebration after the Bucks took a 119-115 lead with 42 seconds remaining.
Detroit cut the deficit to three with a quick Cade Cunningham triple two seconds later. Detroit had the chance to steal the lead when Lillard missed a three-pointer in the next play, but Lopez pulled off a huge defensive stop when he blocked a driving Cunningham.
Jae Crowder made it a two-point game with 3.2 seconds left, and the Pistons could not take a decent attempt at the basket coming off a timeout, sealing Milwaukee’s hard-earned win. Lillard finished with 34 points, 18 coming in the fourth quarter, while Antetokounmpo had 15 points and nine boards.
Bobby Portis Jr. added 18 points, Lopez had 14, while Crowder, Malik Beasley, and MarJon Beauchamp had 10 points apiece.
Cunningham tallied 33 points, while Sasser had 26 off the bench, but the Pistons still tasted their sixth straight loss to fall to 2-7.
