3 takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks’ dominant win over the Detroit Pistons

Fresh off a big win against the Boston Celtics Thursday night, the Milwaukee Bucks immediately hit the road for another matchup with the Detroit Pistons on Friday.

There were some questions as to which players might suit up for this game, given that it was on the second night of a back-to-back. With massive Eastern Conference implications on the line, it was business as usual as the Bucks rolled out their typical lineup, aside from Grayson Allen, who has been dealing with hip soreness as of late.

With their typical rotation nearly fully intact, the Bucks took this game by the horns immediately. This one was all Milwaukee from the start, as evidenced by their 30-8 lead after the first quarter. The Bucks never looked back as they kept the ball rolling from start to finish, with the final score coming in at 131-101. With that being said, let us take a closer look at three takeaways from the contest.

The Milwaukee Bucks dominated paint production between these two teams, which fueled this massive victory

A significant reason for Milwaukee’s 30-point win in this one was their onslaught in the paint as they took advantage of an undersized Detroit team. The Bucks won the points in the paint battle 72-38, an astonishing 34-point difference. With the perimeter shots not falling – having shot just 29.7 percent from the outside for the game – the Bucks consistently attacked the hoop inside, and the results spoke for themselves.

As expected, Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way by scoring 16 of his points in the paint, having dominated down low as the Pistons had no answer. There will be more on the Greek Freak’s stellar night in just a moment. Jrue Holiday followed Antetokounmpo by tallying all 10 of his points in the paint as he failed to knock down a single 3-pointer against Detroit. Though it was an overall quiet night for Holiday on the scoring front, it was welcoming to see him stay aggressive and attack the hoop time and time again offensively.

This next one is certainly surprising as Wesley Matthews scored eight of his nine points courtesy of the paint, with the ninth coming at the free throw line on an and-one. Primarily known for his outside shooting, Matthews attacked the rim several times throughout this contest as he missed both of his 3-point attempts. This will not happen often, but it was compelling to watch Matthews show off his versatility offensively. Meanwhile, Brook Lopez tied Matthews with eight paint points as he had himself another great night, having barreled his way to the rim again and again.

The Milwaukee Bucks have always been a quality paint-scoring team in recent memory, and it was certainly on full display last night. Scoring 72 paint points is absurd, and this performance showed the team’s strength in that facet of the game.