The Milwaukee Bucks opened their postseason campaign with a convincing 121-86 win over the Detroit Pistons.
It was the largest winning margin recorded by the Bucks in the playoffs since 1971, the year when they routed the San Francisco Warriors by 50, 136-86.
The @Bucks won Game 1 by 35 points, their biggest win in an #NBAPlayoffs game since 1971 and the second-biggest postseason victory ever against Detroit. #FearTheDeer
📊 https://t.co/yRWqOHGaPz pic.twitter.com/qKjhDX7pMJ
— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 15, 2019
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 24 points, 17 rebounds and four assists in just 23 minutes of action. Six other players from Milwaukee scored in double figures, with Eric Bledsoe putting up 15 points and five assists and Khris Middleton adding 14 points and five boards. George Hill had 16 points off the bench.
The Pistons, who were without All-Star forward Blake Griffin due to knee soreness, offered very little resistance against Milwaukee's scoring outburst. They only had three players who reached the double-digit mark, led by Luke Kennard's 21 points. Andre Drummond finished with 12 points and 12 boards before getting ejected in the third quarter after receiving a Flagrant 2 foul for shoving Antetokounmpo to the ground.
The game has already been decided in as early as the end of the first half, with the Bucks taking a commanding 70-43 lead. This allowed the team to rest most of its players, as no one from Milwaukee played more than 28 minutes.
The Bucks were no doubt the better team in this game, shooting 48 percent from the field as opposed to 38 percent from the Pistons. Milwaukee also had more rebounds (54-46), more assists (31-22) and more blocked shots (8-2) against Detroit.
Without Griffin, the home team had a field day scoring from inside the painted area, tallying 52 points down low as opposed to 38 from the Pistons.
The Bucks will once again host the Pistons in Game 2 on Wednesday.
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