Jrue Holiday hits clutch three-pointer in final minute to push Bucks over Pistons

The Milwaukee Bucks continued their winning ways Monday night with a 110-108 victory over the Detroit Pistons at Fiserv Forum, winning their sixth straight game to open the season. It is the third time in franchise history the team has begun a season 6-0, joining the 1971-72 and 2018-19 teams.

"I think we've been very confident, very aggressive," Bucks center Brook Lopez said of the hot start. "We've used our size to our advantage, which has been great. We've obviously guarded well which is something I take pride in. Our team's definitely the best defensive team in the NBA and that's something we can do every night, regardless of how we're shooting. Our focus has been crashing the offensive glass. We've been doing a great job of that, too."

The youthful Pistons fell to 2-6 on the second night of a back-to-back. Detroit hung tough due in large part to the fact Milwaukee was once again ice cold from beyond the three-point line – including 14 straight misses in the second half – but the Pistons just didn’t have an answer inside.

Jrue Holiday steps back big for Bucks

Fourteen straight misses.

The Milwaukee Bucks just couldn’t buy a shot from beyond the three-point line to open the second half and, due in large part to that, the Detroit Pistons would not go away despite falling behind by 15 points in the third quarter. Jrue Holiday broke that streak, hitting a step-back three with 6 minutes, 28 seconds to go in the game and give the Bucks a 95-90 lead.

Holiday said he missed two open shots prior to his first clutch three of the fourth quarter, but he wasn’t acutely aware of the number of misses in a row for his team.

“I think in that moment it was just about taking the shot that I wanted,” he said. “He kind of backed up off me and from there just, it went in.”

The team continued to struggle from distance before Holiday effectively won the game with another step-back triple with 45 seconds left to put the Bucks up 108-105.

“He kind of gave me the three, which I guess, missing 14 in a row, that would probably be the best option,” he said of Pistons guard Jaden Ivey. “But I don’t think I was thinking that way. I think it was just an opportunity. I don’t think we ever doubted that we were gonna lose or we were every nervous. Just came down and let it fly.”

Box score:Bucks 110, Pistons 108

Holiday was 5 for 11 from behind the three-point line and the Bucks were 11 for 40 (27.5%), but the Bucks point guard was masterful throughout in scoring 25 points, handing out 10 assists and collecting seven rebounds. It was his third double-double of the season after recording 12 in 67 games last year.

“Honestly, I think it’s just the chemistry we have as a team,” Holiday said of his playmaking through six games. “Getting into that pick-and-roll. It’s tough, man. I’m not gonna lie. Like I think I’m a good player but having Giannis (Antetokounmpo) roll, having Brook roll, what do you really want to do? Do you want to stop me or stop them? It’s fun for me. I get to think the game, I get to read the defender.”

The Bucks needed all of those created points, too, as the Pistons just would not go away and the rest of the Bucks' backcourt struggled to make shots. Grayson Allen, Jevon Carter, Wesley Matthews and George Hill combined for just 15 points on 3 of 15 shooting.

Bucks too big for Pistons

When Jalen Duren tweaked an ankle on Sunday night in Detroit and stayed behind due to the injury, the Pistons came to Milwaukee with a serious size deficit. The Bucks rolled out 7-foot, 1-inch Brook Lopez at center and 7-foot Giannis Antetokounmpo at forward. Then, 6-11 Serge Ibaka and 6-10 Bobby Portis came off the bench.

Antetokounmpo, Lopez and Portis closed Monday's game together, too, and Portis said the chemistry developed playing alongside one another in the playoffs last year has carried over to their groupings early on this season.

"It's great just being able to mix it up, guard different guys, getting caught on a lot of three-mans lately, so being able to find new ways to hep us win and help figure the game out," Portis said. "It's always good to find new ways to help the team win and just new assignments, just something new for me. It's fun."

Duren is 6-10, and without him the Pistons had only Isaiah Stewart (6-9) and Isaiah Livers (6-7) as regular rotational “bigs.” Detroit head coach Dwane Casey joked that he had to break glass in case of this emergency to play 6-11 Nerlens Noel for the first time.

Detroit is young and prone to mistakes in ball handling and decision-making, but it seemed like whenever the Bucks big men decided it was time to get theirs, they did. Antetokounmpo scored 31, Lopez 24 and Portis 15. Portis had another double-double with 12 rebounds while Antetokounmpo and Lopez combined for 16 rebounds and four blocks.

"They're playing a lot of skill guys – they're pretty big skill guys – but they're kind of wings," Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said of the Pistons. "(Cade) Cunningham is really impressive at 6-8 what he's doing with the ball and handling it. (Jaden) Ivey maybe more of a traditional point guard or backcourt guy, but with (Bojan) Bogdanović and (Saddiq) Bey and Cunningham, they're big wings but there's just one kind of big guy in Stewart and Noel tonight. So, we tried to hopefully pound that a little bit and make an advantage for us."

Beyond the actual big men, Milwaukee’s guards played big at times, too, on the offensive glass. As a team, the Bucks pulled down 14 offensive rebounds and scored 18 points off the second chance points. And, they needed each of them as the feisty Pistons never gave up despite trailing by as many as 15 points at several junctures, and fought back to tie the game at 105 in the final minute of the game.

Grayson Allen injures knee

Bucks starter Grayson Allen suffered a left knee bruise in the game and did not return to the game after subbing out with 6:13 left in the third quarter.

“I just got hit, knee-to-knee, I think when (Bogdanović) was trying to post-up, so it was on the catch,” Allen said after the game. “He like kneed me and then my knee buckled a little bit, but just a bruise.”

He said he didn’t have to have any imaging done after an initial evaluation.

The guard finished the game with nine points on 2-of-4 shooting, including 1 for 3 from behind the three-point line. He also had two rebounds and two assists against four turnovers in 20 minutes.

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Giannis Antetokounmpo named Eastern Conference Player of the Week

Giannis Antetokounmpo earned Eastern Conference player of the week honors Monday after the Bucks went 3-0 the week of Oct. 24-30. It is the 18^th time he has been recognized as such.

In those games against Brooklyn, New York and Atlanta, Antetokounmpo averaged 35.7 points, 15.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.7 blocks per game.

Dating back to the game against Houston on Oct. 22, his 151 points were the most he had scored in a four-game span in his career.

“Really? Hooo, I’m balling, man,” he quipped when told of his start after beating the Hawks on Saturday night.

“I think my team is making it easy for me and I just try to be aggressive as much as I can,” he continued. “But still, I’m not going to lie to you, I haven’t had that feeling. There’s a feeling I always have when I play big time games but I haven’t had it yet.

"I don’t think I’m in a rhythm yet. I’m still chasing it. I’m still chasing that feeling. I want to help my team be great. I want to be as efficient as possible for this team. I want to win games. Doesn’t really matter the numbers. I’m just chasing that feeling, that hunger, that things that just happen automatic.

"The trust, like when you trust your skills, when you get to the free throw line and you knock down shots. It’s like a feeling. I haven’t had it yet. But we’re (6-0). We’re feeling good. Guys, we still have three guys that haven’t played yet in Khris (Middleton), Joe (Ingles) and Pat (Connaughton) that when they come back they make the team way, way better. We’re in a good place. If I never get that feeling it’s OK. We’re still winning, we’re still playing great, we’re defending really good, we’re playing together. So everything feels good right now.”

Mike Budenholzer takes issue with three-second calls

Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez is one of the most time and space conscious defenders in the league, particularly when it comes to avoiding defensive three second calls that result in a technical free throw for the opponent. But, Lopez has been whistled for the penalty four times and Giannis Antetokounmpo once in the early part of the year.

A defensive player can avoid the whistle and reset the three seconds by touching an offensive player moving through his area – or “cleanse” the clock. It’s something Lopez has been particularly smooth at doing as he protects the rim.

“I actually; it’s a fickle rule,” Budenholzer said before the game. “I would actually argue they’ve cleansed themselves and cleared. So, but I think Brook has an internal clock, Giannis the same. They’ve been good and we expect them to be good going forward. We don’t talk about it much. Brook’s, he’s got a great feel for it. I actually think there’s been a couple mistakes (with those calls). We’ll just continue to hopefully be good defensively and do what it takes.”

Five numbers

3: Three-pointers made by the Bucks in the second half on 18 attempts. They opened the half missing 14 straight threes before Jrue Holiday knocked one down with 6:28 to go in the game.

11: Players who saw action for the Bucks, as they played their third game in four days.

14: Wins in the last 15 games the Bucks have played against the Pistons.

19: First half points for Pistons guard Cade Cunnigham, on 8-of-13 shooting in 18 minutes to keep his team within shouting distance at 60-52 at the break. He finished with 27 to lead his team.

60: Wins in a season the last two Bucks teams finished with (at least) the last time they started 6-0.

Play of the game

The Pistons hung around and fought tough, cutting what was a 15-point first half deficit down to 62-61 at the 10-minute, 44-second mark of the third quarter as the Bucks were turning the ball over and missing shots. But Jrue Holiday and Giannis Antetokounmpo decided enough was enough shortly thereafter, and the pair put an exclamation point on their performance when Holiday picked off a Cade Cunningham pass and floated a lob to a streaking Antetokounmpo for a dunk.

The play was the highlight of a 18-4 run that put the Bucks back up 80-65 about halfway through the third quarter and equaled the Bucks’ biggest lead in the game to that point. They needed all of it, too, as the Pistons charged back to tie the game 105-105 in the final minute of play.

Video of the game

On one hand, this is Bobby Portis being… Bobby Portis. But prior to the game Detroit head coach Dwane Casey called Portis the spiritual leader of the Bucks in that as soon as he enters the game he energizes the team and the crowd.There was perhaps no better way to show that than early in the game on this offensive rebound.

Who do the Bucks play next?

The Detroit Pistons are spending a few days in Milwaukee, as the Bucks will play the Pistons again on Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum at 7 p.m. It will conclude the Bucks’ season-long six-game homestand.

Rookie center Jalen Duren, who rolled an ankle in Detroit’s win over Golden State on Sunday, did not travel with the Pistons to Milwaukee for Monday’s game. But, the No. 13 pick in the draft may be available for Wednesday’s game per Pistons head coach Dwane Casey.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jrue Holiday hits clutch three in final minute to push Bucks over Pistons