Giannis Antetokounmpo notched a triple-double with 32 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds and the Milwaukee Bucks clinched the Eastern Conference’s No. 5 seed in the playoffs with a 125-119 win over the host Detroit Pistons on Friday night.
Bobby Portis had 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and Kevin Porter Jr. contributed 16 points and seven assists. Brook Lopez tossed in 15 points while Taurean Prince and Kyle Kuzma added 10 apiece for the Bucks, who will face the Pacers in the playoffs’ first round.
The Bucks (47-34) pushed their winning streak over the Pistons to 12 games. Dating back to the 2018-19 season, the Bucks have defeated the Pistons in 24 of their 25 meetings.
Cade Cunningham carried the Pistons (44-37) with 36 points and 12 assists. Malik Beasley had 21 points, Tobias Harris supplied 17 and Dennis Schroder added 12 with eight assists. Detroit will be the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and will take on the New York Knicks in the first round.
The teams meet again Sunday in Milwaukee for the regular-season finale.
The Bucks led 68-65 at halftime with Antetokounmpo and Portis scoring 13 points apiece.
Cunningham carried the Pistons with 21 first-half points. The teams combined for just six turnovers during the half.
Antetokounmpo had a 13-point third quarter, but the Bucks only led by one heading into the fourth.
The Pistons took a 103-101 lead with 10 minutes remaining on 3-pointers from Beasley and Cunningham. Gary Trent Jr. then heated up for Milwaukee and knocked down consecutive threes. After Cunningham made another long ball to pull Detroit within a point, Antetokounmpo dunked twice off feeds from Porter and Trent. That gave Milwaukee a 111-106 advantage.
Porter dunked to push the lead to seven. The Pistons whittled their deficit to four, 115-111, with 3:30 remaining on a Harris layup.
A Portis layup and an AJ Green 3-pointer gave the Bucks a nine-point cushion with 1:51 remaining.
The Pistons wouldn’t go away quietly. Beasley drained a 3-pointer with 17 seconds to make it 122-119, but Porter answered with two free throws. Detroit came up empty on its next possession to ensure a Bucks victory.
–Field Level Media
