Antetokounmpo scores 29 in return, Bucks top Pistons 150-130

DETROIT (AP)—Giannis Antetokounmposcored 20 of his 29 points in thefirst quarter, returning to the lineup after a five-game absence tolead theMilwaukee Bucksin a 150-130 win overtheDetroit Pistonson Monday night.

The two-timeMVP had been out with a sore left knee and was joined by three-timeAll-Star Khris Middleton, putting the Bucks’ prolific duo in thesame lineup for the first time in more than a month.

“The band isback together,” Antetokounmpo said.

Middleton,who hadn’t played since Dec. 15 due to a sore right knee, had eightpoints and four assists as a steadying presence for the CentralDivision-leading Bucks.

“It was greatto see everyone playing together with no real chemistry issues,”said Bucks center Brook Lopez, who scored 21 points.

Milwaukeescored 49 points in the first quarter, two shy of the NBA record,and led Detroit by 25 after Antetokounmpo made all six of his shotsin eight-plus minutes.

“I was tryingto be aggressive and some shots fell,” he said.

After drawingdefenders, Antetokounmpo also had two assists along with tworebounds in the opening quarter.

“It wasimpressive to come out and play the way he did,” Bucks coach MikeBudenholzer said. “He did a little bit of everything, just like thewhole group that in that quarter.”

Antetokounmpodidn’t keep up his scoring pace the rest of the game, but he didn’thave to with teammates such as reserve Bobby Portis scoring 12 ofhis 18 points in the second quarter.

Milwaukee led83-55 at halftime, had 115 after three quarters and finished with aseason high in points in a game that wasn’t competitive beyond theopening minutes.

“The firstquarter is what I was afraid would happen,” Detroit coach DwaneCasey said. “A championship-caliber team came in and put theirstamp on the game at the beginning. We didn’t respond, and that’show you give up a 49-point first quarter. I liked our fight afterthat, but this is a 48-minute game.”

Mercifully,the Bucks held the ball and were called for a shot-clock violationin the final seconds when they were three points from matching themost by an NBA team this season.

“I’m sure thebasket looked big for them,” Budenholzer said.

BojanBogdanovic scored 33 points and rookie Jalen Duren had aseason-high 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Pistons, who have wonan Eastern Conference-low 12 games and are ahead of only Houston inthe league-wide standings.

Detroitrookie Jaden Ivey had 12 points and 11 assists, and Hamidou Dialloadded 11 points off the bench.

“Thechallenge at that point is looking at the scoreboard and tellingyourself there’s no 31-point shot,” said Detroit’s Saddiq Bey, whoscored 21 points.

INMEMORY OF

The Pistonshonored the lateBobLanierthroughout the game. The Hall of Famer, who playedhis 14-season career with Detroit and Milwaukee, died in May at age73.

There wasalso a moment of silence forChrisFord, who started his career with Detroit before winning threeNBA titles in Boston as a player and assistant coach. Ford, whomade the first 3-pointer in league history, died last week at age74.

TIP-INS

Bucks: Portisleft the court with a sore right knee early in the fourth quarterafter grabbing a 10th rebound for his 29th double-double thisseason. “We’re hopeful that it is not anything serious,”Budenholzer said. ... Reserve Jevon Carter had 18, and Jrue Holidayadded 16 points and seven assists.

Pistons:Killian Hayes (shoulder) was out along with Marvin Bagley (brokenhand) and Cade Cunningham (shin surgery). ... The short-handed teamhas lost four straight and eight of 10 games in 2023.