1 Overwhelmingly positive takeaway following Bucks' gutsy win over Pistons

A set of back-to-back home games provided a great opportunity for the Milwaukee Bucks to start putting their season back on track. They followed up Tuesday's win over the Toronto Raptors with a gutsy overtime victory against the Detroit Pistons.

Multiple players have struggled so far this season, and the Bucks were short-handed with Damian Lillard, Bobby Portis and Ryan Rollins missing, which opened the door for other Bucks players to step up and show why Milwaukee shouldn't be written off just yet.

Giannis Antetokounmpo showed out with a brilliant 59-point performance, adding 14 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and three blocks. He shot well from all levels, too, something veteran center Brook Lopez had struggled with until Wednesday night.

Brook Lopez finally had a strong offensive game and showed his value

Since arriving in Milwaukee, Lopez has made a great frontcourt duo with Giannis, both offering solid interior protection and having complementary offensive games that led the Bucks to the title in 2021. Now 36, many are wondering if the veteran still has the same value to the Bucks, with him struggling to impact the game offensively this season, but his last performance was overwhelmingly positive.

Lopez finished with a season-high 29 points, shooting a season-high 62.5 percent from deep (5-for-8) and tied his season-high in rebounds with eight. Three steals and five blocks ensured he still had a strong defensive impact against the Detroit Pistons.

It has been the worst 3-point shooting season for Lopez since he joined the Bucks, with him hitting 30.8 percent of shots from deep. Also, it has been his lowest-scoring season with the Bucks at just 11 points per game, but he showed the value he has and that he still has enough in the tank to help the team turn the season around after a poor start in this outing.

Now 4-8, Milwaukee faces the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday and then hosts the Houston Rockets on Monday, one of the teams that showed interest in the big man in prior offseasons. The goal for Lopez will be to keep up the efficient performances; no one is expecting him to hit 29 points every game, but he has only shot over 40 percent from the field in five of 11 games this season and above 30 percent from three on four occasions.

With clear struggles still persisting from certain players and an issue with depth scoring, Lopez needs to continue being a consistent 10-point-per-game scorer. We know Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard will get their points. It is down to the vets like Lopez and Portis to consistently complement those two stars. It is a lot to expect from AJ Green, Andre Jackson Jr. and the other younger players to suddenly jump into the rotation and be a constant source of scoring.

It is a step in the right direction for the Milwaukee Bucks and, in particular, for Lopez; moving forward, he needs to continue being effective on both ends and get his shooting back to his standard. He is a career 34.8 percent shooter from deep, and some of those seasons include him barely shooting in Brooklyn. Lopez is still valuable to the Bucks, and hopefully similar performances can become a more common occurrence.

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