MILWAUKEE (AP) 鈥� Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and 12 rebounds and the Milwaukee Bucks matched a franchise record with their seventh straight win to open the season, beating the Detroit Pistons 116-91 on Wednesday night.
Milwaukee鈥檚 7-0 season-opening run matches the starts of the 2018-19 and 1971-72 teams.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy that the team is winning, but that鈥檚 like second,鈥� Antetokounmpo said. 鈥淚鈥檓 happy that the team is building good habits. I鈥檓 happy that we can be good even if we don鈥檛 make shots, that it doesn鈥檛 affect us. We still play hard, we still move the ball. Guys are not talking by themselves, we talk to one another. We are in a very good place.鈥�
Jrue Holiday, who was uncertain to play because of a non-COVID-19 illness, added 26 points for the NBA鈥檚 only undefeated team. Jordan Nwora scored 12 off the bench.
鈥淚 think some of it鈥檚 mental,鈥� Holiday said. 鈥淜nowing that, through a winning streak, you don鈥檛 always look pretty. I think that sometimes you make mistakes, you still come out with the outcome that you want. I feel like that builds confidence, knowing that you can go into any game and really feel like you can win any game any type of way.鈥�
Four Pistons scored in double-figures, led by Saddiq Bey鈥檚 22 points. Isaiah Stewart finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Bojan Bogdanovic added 14 points and Cade Cunningham 10.
Antetokounmpo has scored 30 or more points in six consecutive games.
鈥淚t feels like he鈥檚 playing a lot of different places and playing with just a good rhythm and really an unselfish heart and it鈥檚 coming back to him,鈥� Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. 鈥淕ood things are happening.鈥�
The two-time MVP tallied 15 of the Bucks鈥� 31 first-quarter points against Detroit.
鈥淎 guy like him, when he sees a few baskets go in, he starts to get hot,鈥� Stewart said. 鈥淎nd for us defensively, we don鈥檛 want that, so praise to him for getting going.鈥�
The Bucks shot only 26.3% on 3-pointers, but outscored the Pistons 56-30 in the paint and outrebounded them 52-35.
The Bucks led for nearly the entire first half despite shooting 2 for 21 from long distance. They outscored the Pistons 34-14 in the paint and led 56-47 at halftime. Milwaukee increased its lead in the second half.
鈥淔inding other ways, the offensive rebounding, created some turnovers, played really good defense,鈥� Budenholzer said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 early in the year, but we want to be able to win different ways. Some nights you鈥檙e just not going to make shots or make 3s. You can鈥檛 just crawl into a hole and go home, you鈥檝e got to find other ways to win.鈥�
The Bucks have avoided defeat even though Khris Middleton and Pat Connaughton haven鈥檛 seen the court. Middleton is recovering from offseason wrist surgery and Connaughton has a strained right calf.
TIP-INS
Pistons: Rookie C Jalen Duren missed a second straight game. He sprained his left ankle Sunday in a win over the Warriors.
Bucks: F-C Sandro Mamukelashvili missed the game and was being evaluated for a concussion. ... Two-way G AJ Green underwent surgery Tuesday to repair his fractured nose, an injury he sustained during practice with the Wisconsin Herd on Friday. He is expected to be sidelined for about three weeks.
UP NEXT
Pistons: Host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
Bucks: At the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
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Tom Kertscher, The Associated Press
