Pistons vs. Bucks final score: Lethargic Pistons struggle on both ends, fall to Bucks 102-89

Playing the second night of a back-to-back on the road is always going to be tough no matter who you are playing. The Pistons proved that tonight, although they did themselves no favors either with their effort on both ends.

I was hesitant to #StartWriting after last night’s game, but you are unlikely to have miracles back-to-back nights. Plus, the Pistons just did not have it tonight.

After only scoring 19 points in the first quarter, you could definitely tell it was going to be an offensive struggle for the Pistons on tired legs. However, they held Milwaukee to 23 so they were still in the game.

The Pistons were doomed in the second quarter after former Piston Greg Monroe spent the quarter taking Aron Baynes and Andre Drummond to school. He scored 13 points in the quarter, two less than the Pistons scored in the quarter, and only missed one shot. He had 17 at halftime.

The Pistons came into the third quarter down 17, and not much hope for pulling a miracle. They were able to outscore the Bucks in the quarter 27-26, but it was simply too much to overcome in the fourth quarter.

They put up a fight in the fourth, and actually got the lead down to 11 for the Bucks at one point. They made me reconsider my decision to #StartWriting for a bit, but the Bucks ultimately pulled away.

Greg Monroe finished with 25 for the Bucks on 12 of 15 shooting. Micheal Beasley was also murder with 23 points on 10 for 13 shooting. If I told you the Pistons would hold Giannis Antetokounmpo to 8 points on 2 for 9 shooting, you would think the Pistons won for sure. As you can see, there is a clear explanation why that was not the case.

Marcus Morris and Andre Drummond were the only players who were able to do anything offensively for the Pistons. Morris finished with 26 points on 10-17 shooting, doing most of his damage in the fourth quarter. Drummond had 21 points on 8-16 shooting, he did not have his best game defensively and got replaced by Boban Marjanovic at the end of the third quarter and half of the fourth quarter. He came back in after Boban didn’t do any better on Greg Monroe than Drummond or Baynes, it was just one of those nights.

Ish Smith had been playing out of his mind over the previous seven games. However, tonight was not his night either as he finished with 3 points on 1 of 4 shooting and only one assist.

The Pistons have one more game before the much-needed All Star Break on Wednesday against the Mavericks at the Palace.