Pistons at Bucks final score: Pistons methodically beaten by Bucks, 121-98

The Pistons lose yet another game, dropping to 16-19 on the season after a 121-98 loss at Milwaukee Tuesday night.

The effort was there for the Detroit Pistons on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks, owners of the best record in the NBA — but unless your name was Blake Griffin or Reggie Jackson, Pistons shots just weren’t dropping through the net.

But let me be clear — Reggie Jackson stunk on defense tonight. Sometimes it’s as if Reggie’s feet are stuck in cement. At times, I forgot Andre Drummond was even on the court. Quite a lot recently I’m wondering why Bruce Brown is even starting.

Talking about the first half, the Pistons could have played much worse, and they could have played much better. Their first quarter ball movement may have been the most crisp it has been all season. All things equal, they found themselves down 68-52 at the half.

In the first half Blake Griffin was pretty darn lethal with 20 points on 15 shots. He knocked in three triples before the half.

Reggie Jackson had his game flowing with 6-of-8 shooting. Reggie Bullock and Luke Kennard were mostly aggressive and hunting for their shots, but the first half wasn’t kind to them, and not much would change later on.

The Bucks scored 42 points in the paint in half number one. Forty-two. If that’s not cruel enough, Brook Lopez drained his first four 3-pointers. Sterling Brown had two dunks within the first two minutes he entered the game.

The second half began with Detroit turning the ball over four times in their first five possessions. It might as well been over from that point on.

Detroit second round pick Khyri Thomas played a ton of minutes in the second after seeing a cameo in the first half. Besides getting lost on defense and being abused by George Hill a little bit, the rookie held his own, looked assertive, and knocked down some shots. He finished with a career-high 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting (6-of-7 from the charity stripe).

Stanley Johnson did not see action tonight — a late scratch due to a thigh contusion per Dwane Casey. It may have not even mattered — as Giannis Antetokounmpo was efficient but rather quiet with just 15 points on 11 shots, eight rebounds and seven assists, plus one obliteration of Jon Leuer. Jon played a decent game and battled all game long in his 25 minutes, so I’m not going to show Giannis’ dunk on him. With as much talent and chemistry as the Bucks seem to have, mixed with the funk that seems to be the Detroit Pistons, this game was over even before it began.

The Pistons play Wednesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies.