Milwaukee @ Detroit preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 13, 2017 ) Detroit 103, Milwaukee 107

The Detroit Pistons were on the verge of sweeping a three-game west coast swing before suffering a letdown in the finale, but a five-game homestand should get them back on track. The Pistons will open that stretch on Friday by hosting the Central Division-rival Milwaukee Bucks, who are losers of three of their last four games.

Detroit knocked off the Los Angeles Clippers to begin the trip and fought for a 115-107 win over the defending champion Golden State Warriors the next night, only to fall to the Lakers 113-93. “We didn’t have the energy to run cuts. We had a lot of guys stopping the ball, dribbling the ball, pounding the ball. And we did not make plays,” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters. “We can go right down the list. Anything you bring up. We didn’t defend. We didn’t get back defensively. We didn’t protect the basket. We didn’t close on shooters. We didn’t handle the ball well. We didn’t move the ball. I mean, whatever you want to bring up." The Bucks struggled to get back on defense as well in a 126-121 loss at Charlotte on Wednesday after suffering through a 110-91 loss to Oklahoma City at home the night before. "If you score over 120 points you can say it (the offense) did great, so I guess it did great," Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd told reporters. "But our defense was horrible. It’s not just one side of the ball, we’ve got to play both."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FS Detroit

ABOUT THE BUCKS (4-4): Milwaukee star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered through his worst game of the young season on Wednesday, scoring a season-low 14 points and shooting a season-worst 5-of-16 from the floor. "I just missed shots, I think that was what happened tonight," Antetokounmpo told reporters after the game. "I don't see any defense that affects me. I can shoot over guys easily but there were no legs tonight. It was back-to-back games and I just missed shots, that’s it." Antetokounmpo missed both of his 3-point attempts on Wednesday but the rest of the team knocked down 19-of-34 from beyond the arc to keep the Bucks in the game.

ABOUT THE PISTONS (5-3): Detroit intends to return to the playoffs and do some damage this spring, and the first west coast trip taught the team some lessons. "What we can take away is definitely a learning experience,” small forward Tobias Harris told reporters. "Two games that we really dictated how we were going to play and one game where we let the other team dictate how they wanted to play. It’s something we have to be able to understand and to be a really good and successful team we have to be the team that’s dominant from the start and dictating the pace of the game and the intensity of the game." Harris, who leads the Pistons in scoring (20.5 points), is averaging 24 points at home and 18.4 on the road in the early going.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Pistons C Andre Drummond recorded a double-double in five of the last six games.

2. Bucks SG Khris Middleton scored 43 points on 15-of-28 shooting Wednesday after slumping to nine points on 3-of-14 the previous night.

3. Milwaukee took the final three of the four meetings last season, including a 119-94 win at Detroit on Dec. 28.

PREDICTION: Bucks 113, Pistons 111