Pistons 105, Milwaukee 98
MILWAUKEE -- Center Andre Drummond scored 24 points as the Detroit Pistons used a second-half surge to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 105-98 Wednesday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Drummond also pulled down 19 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the season and 13th in his past 15 games.
Four of Detroit's five starters scored in double figures. Forward Greg Monroe had 18 points and 17 rebounds, while forward Josh Smith added 17 points.
Point guard Brandon Jennings shot 4-for-16 from the field but finished with 17 points and 11 assists in his first game in Milwaukee since being sent to Detroit in a sign-and-trade deal last summer.
Milwaukee whittled down a 14-point lead in the final quarter but couldn't get over the hump, missing a golden opportunity when forward Ersan Ilysasova missed a layup that the Pistons converted into an easy dunk by Drummond.
Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo made it 80-73 on a layup with 10:57 to play, but Milwaukee hit only one of its next nine attempts from the floor before point guard Brandon Knight made it an 89-77 game on a layup with 5:31 left.
Ilyasova scored a season-high 22 points to lead the Bucks, who also got 12 points each from Knight and forward John Henson.
Bucks forward Khris Middleton made four of five 3-pointers to finish with 14 points, while backup point guard Luke Ridnour had 10 points and eight assists.
Milwaukee blocked five of Monroe's shots in the first half and had 10 total blocks at the break. The Bucks used a 15-1 run to take their first lead of the game midway through the second quarter and led 50-45 at halftime despite shooting 40 percent from the field.
Detroit came out hot in the third, and took a 80-67 lead into the fourth.
The Bucks finished with 13 blocked shots, and they shot 39.6 percent. The Pistons blocked 11 shots and hit 38.4 of their field-goal attempts.
NOTES: Wednesday marked the return of Brandon Jennings to Milwaukee. The Detroit point guard spent his first four NBA seasons with the Bucks, averaging 17 points and 6 assists in 291 games before being shipped to the Pistons for PG Brandon Knight this summer. ... Both the Bucks and Pistons played on the road Tuesday night, and both teams had their flight diverted to Chicago due to a heavy fog that settled in over Milwaukee. Both teams took buses from Chicago. ... Bucks C Larry Sanders was cited for disorderly conduct and assault and battery by Milwaukee police Wednesday in connection to a Nov. 3 incident at a downtown nightclub. Sanders injured his right thumb in that altercation and is not expected to return for at least three more weeks. ... Detroit made 12 of 29 3-pointers against Milwaukee last week but was last in the league with an average of 5.94 3-pointers made per game entering play Wednesday. They made seven of 21 3-point tries Wednesday against the Bucks.
