Bucks 80 - 88 Pistons
Final
  for this game

Pistons top Bucks to halt slide

Feb 4, 2012 - 5:21 AM Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - The Pistons had lost a season-high seven straight entering Friday's matchup with the Bucks, who were in the midst of a season-long three-game win streak. Then, something gave.

Behind a career-high 26 points from Brandon Knight, Detroit halted its slide with an 88-80 victory. Greg Monroe added 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Tayshaun Prince finished with 13 points and nine boards.

"We played for a full 48 minutes tonight," said Monroe. "Everybody that was in the game played hard. Everybody played with energy."

The Bucks, who were coming off of Wednesday's comeback win over the Heat, were paced by Brandon Jennings' 20 points. Shaun Livingston had 14 and Ersan Ilyasova chipped in nine and 12 rebounds.

The Pistons led by 10 at the half and 72-61 after three, but had to endure a pair of late Milwaukee runs to halt their dubious streak.

Milwaukee opened the fourth with a 7-0 burst, which included six straight from Tobias Harris, to pull within four. Detroit responded with an 8-1 run, capped by Knight's running layup, which caromed high off the glass and through the net, to re-establish a double-digit advantage.

"He did a great job tonight taking on the challenge of Brandon Jennings," Monroe said of Knight.

The Bucks didn't relent, again pulling within four, 80-76, behind three Livingston free throws and buckets from Ilyasova and Carlos Delfino. Knight then sandwiched a pair of baskets around a Livingston layup to make it a six- point game with two minutes left.

Jennings and Drew Gooden both missed three-pointers on the Bucks' next possession and the Bucks were without a final charge. Monroe and Rodney Stuckey made two free throws apiece in the closing seconds to seal the Detroit win.

"Well we were terrible in every aspect of the game," Bucks head coach Scott Skiles said. "There's no reason to sugarcoat, our effort was awful; total lack of focus and concentration."

Game Notes

The Pistons were coming off an 0-4 road trip. They have defeated the Bucks three straight times at The Palace...Pistons' forward Jason Maxiell grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds...Prior to the game, the Pistons announced that forward Charlie Villanueva will miss at least a few weeks due to continued soreness and discomfort in his right ankle. After visiting with multiple foot and ankle orthopedic surgeons, Villanueva was diagnosed with a resolving posterior tibial tenosynovitis with small talotibal spurs. It was recommended that the ankle be partially immobilized. He will be re-evaluated in a few weeks.






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