For the first time since 2016, the Pistons are back in the NBA playoffs. Now, they'll try to win a playoff game for the first time since 2008. That won't be easy. The Pistons open their Eastern Conference playoff series on Sunday against the top-seeded Bucks in Milwaukee. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. The Bucks not only own the NBA's best regular-season record at 60-22, they boast an MVP candidate in Giannis Antetokounmpo, while the status of the Pistons' MVP, Blake Griffin, remains uncertain because of a knee injury. He's been ruled out for Game 1. Follow along here for live updates. Pistons routed in Game 1 loss The Pistons were annihilated by the Bucks in Game 1, as the baskets came early and often for the top-seeded home team. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points and 17 rebounds for the Bucks. Luke Kennard led the Pistons with 21 points. Game 2 is 8 p.m. Wednesday in Milwaukee. Bucks 121, Pistons 86; Final Kennard not horrible in playoff debut Luke Kennard has 18 points and is possibly the only bright spot for the Pistons. Rookie Khyri Thomas is getting a little run here, his playoff debut. Bucks 108, Pistons 71; 4:52 4th Milwaukee rout continues into fourth Without Andre Drummond, the Pistons actually perked up a tiny bit down the stretch in the third quarter. About the only competition in the fourth quarter is the one against history. Bucks 97, Pistons 61; end 3rd Lead pushes past 40 for Bucks Andre Drummond committed a flagrant-2 foul, so he's been tossed. He pushed Giannis Antetokounmpo hard to the ground underneath the Pistons basket. The Pistons are still getting absolutely trucked by the Bucks, who are nearing 100 points. The Bucks pushed the lead past 30 points in the third quarter, with the largest lead being 41... so far. Bucks 95, Pistons 54; 4:07 3rd Pistons trailing Bucks by 26 at halftime The Pistons are getting routed on the road for Game 1 against the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez had 14 points apiece at the half, but Luke Kennard has a game-high 15 points for Detroit. Bucks 70, Pistons 43; Halftime Maker struggling against former team Good news: Luke Kennard is playing well. He's 3 for 4 on 3-pointers with 13 points. Thon Maker committed a hard foul on former teammates Giannis Antetokounmpo. The refs reviewed it to see if it was a flagrant foul, but it was ruled a common foul. Maker is 0 for 5 from 3-point range and is apparently hearing it from the Milwaukee fans. Bucks 60, Pistons 35; 3:23 2nd Casey, organization getting a look at roster Without Blake Griffin, the Pistons are going to get trucked, we all knew that. But this is a chance for the organization to see who's up for this kind of playoff intensity. Giannis Antetokounmpo hammered a dunk home to force a timeout. Bucks 45, Pistons 23; 10:06 2nd Pistons trail Bucks by 20 points after one Without Blake Griffin, the Pistons are getting drilled by the Bucks in Game 1. Giannis Antetokounmpo has 11 points and Brook Lopez has 10 points for Milwaukee. Andre Drummond has six points and eight rebounds for Detroit. Bucks 38, Pistons 18; end 1st Connaughton stepping up off Milwaukee bench Things haven't gotten much better as the Bucks continue to score at will in the paint, including two acrobatic layups by Pat Connaughton. Dwane Casey has tried to shake things up by putting Andre Drummond on Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis has 10 points early, all at the rim. Bucks 25, Pistons 10, 4:59 1st Maker picks up pair of quick fouls Thon Maker has two fouls early on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are off and running. Dwane Casey elected to stay with him, as Blake Griffin is out with an injury. Giannis has six points early. Andre Drummond scored the first four Pistons points. Bucks 13, Pistons 4, 9:00 1st Wojo: Take the Pistons and the points As noted by the Wise One Wojodamus, the Pistons are now big-time dogs on the road. Our columnist says to take the Stones and the points. Maker will start vs. former team With Blake Griffin out, Thon Maker will start tonight for the Pistons, the first game against his former team. Maker was traded in February by the Bucks to Detroit as part of a three-way deal. Maker has started five games for the Pistons this season when Griffin has missed with injuries. Double dose of injury issues Not only is Blake Griffin out for the Pistons, but Nikola Mirotic will make his return to the Milwaukee lineup tonight. Mirotic, acquired in the three-way deal that sent Stanley Johnson to New Orleans and Thon Maker to Detroit, has not played since March 19. He missed the final 11 games for Milwaukee because of a thumb injury. Pistons vs. Bucks Game 1: Bucks 121, Pistons 86 Game 2: Pistons at Bucks, Wednesday, 8 p.m. (FSD, 950 AM) Game 3: Bucks at Pistons, Saturday, 8 p.m. (FSD, 97.1 FM) Game 4: Bucks at Pistons, April 22, 8 p.m. (FSD, 950 AM) *Game 5: Pistons at Bucks, April 24 *Game 6: Bucks at Pistons, April 26 *Game 7: Pistons at Bucks, April 28 * - if necessary<doc-sep>Game 1 Betting Odds: Detroit Pistons vs. Milwaukee Bucks Spread: Bucks -13 Over/Under: 219 Time: 7 p.m. ET TV Channel: TNT >> All odds as of 4:15 p.m. ET. Download The Action Network App to get real-time odds and live win probabilities on your bets. The Milwaukee Bucks, owner of the league’s best record and point differential, will start their hopeful title run with a first-round series against the Pistons. They’re huge favorites in Game 1; can they cover that big number? Our analysts dive in below. Betting Trends to Know The top teams in each conference have combined to go 76-69-3 (52.4%) against-the-spread (ATS) in the opening round. Top seeds have had more success when facing an opponent who is .500 or worse, going 37-25-2 (59.7%) ATS. The Pistons needed a win in Game 82 of the season to clinch a playoff spot and finished at an even 41-41. The top-seeded Bucks will look to extend this winning trend for No. 1 seeds when they host the Pistons. — John Ewing The Pistons are in the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 season. Some bettors may be hesitant to wager on Detroit as a road team without postseason experience, but our data shows home-court advantage and playoff experience is overrated. Since 2005, it has been profitable to bet on road teams who didn’t reach the postseason the year before in the first round. — Ewing The Bucks are 22-4 straight-up at home against the Eastern Conference this season, including 17-8-1 ATS. Of the four Bucks home losses against the East this season, Giannis Antetokounmpo missed two of those games and scored 43 points and 52 points in the other two losses (all to playoff teams: Nets, Sixers, Magic, Raptors). — Evan Abrams Milwaukee does it on both sides of the floor. The Bucks lead the NBA in field goal percentage allowed this season at 43.3%. Since 2005, teams that allow 44% or worse shooting from the field excel in the first round of the playoffs, going 181-150-4 ATS (54.7%). They’ve gone 42-26 ATS (61.8%) over the last three seasons, covering the spread by 3.3 points per game. — Abrams Mears: How I’m Handicapping Tonight’s Game Finish reading this entire article absolutely FREE in our app GET OUR FREE APP Blake Griffin has been ruled out of Game 1 with a sore left knee. Antetokounmpo will almost certainly be the best player in this series, but Griffin might be the most important due to how the Bucks play defense. This year, they have shifted their defensive scheme to completely selling out to protect the rim. Thus, they allow the highest 3-point rate in the league, and they’re betting that the increased rim protection plus their lengthy defenders can close out enough to bothers shooters. It’s obviously worked, as the Bucks have the second-best defense this season, allowing just 105.8 points per 100 possessions. They’re also second in effective field goal percentage allowed, which accounts for the value of a 3-point shot. That said, they’re judicious in which 3s they allow. They’re actually near the bottom of the league in 3-pointers allowed to guards, but they allow by far the most to big men. Griffin averaged seven 3-point attempts per game this year, but that increased to nine against the Bucks. Milwaukee largely forced big men and role players to knock down shots; it was a winning strategy. And they’ll employ that same strategy in this series, which means the pick-and-pop with Reggie Jackson and Griffin will be wide open all series, as will long 2s from Jackson. If they want to hang around, Griffin will need to have a stellar series, and he’s starting it out injured. He’s questionable to suit up Sunday with a sore left knee, and it’s unclear how effective he’ll be even if he does play. That brings a ton of uncertainty to this game. On one hand, the trend John mentioned above is compelling. On the other hand, the Pistons are toast if Griffin doesn’t play or isn’t himself, which we may not really know until halfway through the game. I’ll likely be staying away as a result, but maybe we can get some information and be able to bet this series in later games. — Bryan Mears Editor’s note: The opinions on this game are from the individual writers and are based on their research, analysis and perspective. They are independent of, and may not always match with, the algorithm-driven Best Bets from Sports Insights.<doc-sep>
Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images The top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks started their postseason run Sunday with the same fervor that defined their regular season by handing the eighth-seeded Detroit Pistons a 121-86 defeat at Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum. The victory gives the Bucks a 1-0 series lead in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. League MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo was, as expected, the most dominant player on the floor with 24 points and 17 rebounds in just 23 minutes on the court. Meanwhile, Detroit had a glaring absence in the paint, as All-Star forward Blake Griffin sat out because of knee soreness. Without him, guard Luke Kennard played at power forward and led all Pistons with 21 points off the bench. The Bucks are trying to win their first playoff series since 2001, while the Pistons last advanced beyond the first round in 2008. Overpowering Bucks Poised to Sweep Pistons in Round 1 Video Play Button Videos you might like Milwaukee finished the 2018-19 regular season with the best record in the NBA for the first time since 1973-74, three seasons after the franchise's only championship. The Bucks have their eyes set on combining those two feats by claiming an NBA title this season. And if Game 1 was any indication, hurdling Detroit on their way to doing so will not be a hurdle at all. The mismatch is blatant on paper, with or without Griffin. The Pistons eked into the postseason with a win over the lowly New York Knicks on the last day of the regular season, while Milwaukee was the first team to clinch a berth all the way back on March 1. So, a blowout in Game 1 is hardly a surprise. That said, the Bucks dominated despite The Greek Freak only playing 23 minutes. While Antetokounmpo draws all eyes to Milwaukee, this is a fully fleshed out team alongside him. On Sunday night, all five starters scored in double digits, while two bench contributors also scored 10-plus points. The Pistons accentuated how great the Bucks are capable of playing in Game 1. While a healthy Griffin would certainly help matters, Detroit is simply overmatched. This opening series has all the makings to be a quick one, a blip in Milwaukee's radar. Even when Detroit had Griffin this regular season, the Bucks swept the series 4-0. Look for history to repeat itself in this first-round matchup. Blake Griffin's Value to Pistons on Full Display in Game 1 Blowout Gary Dineen/Getty Images Not only were the Pistons without Griffin, who is listed as day-to-day for this series, but center Andre Drummond earned himself a flagrant-2 foul and subsequent ejection for shoving Antetokounmpo to the ground in the third quarter. Up to that point, Drummond had 12 points and 12 rebounds. The 25-year-old has been the team's second-leading scorer (17.3) behind Griffin (24.5) this season, and the Pistons could not afford to lose anybody else in Game 1. Thirteen different players saw playing time on Sunday night, but it didn't matter who head coach Dwane Casey threw on the court. "I knew [Griffin] was a great athlete," Casey told Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher in a profile published Saturday. "But I went to see him and he had six or seven guys simulating what he'd see handling the ball against different coverages. "He was trying to replicate situations he'd face for us in the role we had in mind for him as a primary ball-handler and playmaker. His basketball IQ is what struck me. His basketball acumen is off the charts." Perhaps Griffin can help the team with his basketball IQ while sidelined, but nothing will surpass the contributions he could make in the actual game. And if it were up to him, according to Rod Beard of the Detroit News, he would have played on Sunday night. Any hesitation by Pistons staff to sit Griffin must have to do with preserving their franchise's face because there is no hope for the team to upset the Bucks without him. Griffin has averaged a team-leading 35 minutes per game across 75 appearances this season, and he is the most experienced player on the roster with when it comes to the postseason. Drummond and point guard Reggie Jackson were members of the 2015-16 Pistons, who lost in the first round. If Griffin's health is what's most important, which would certainly be understandable, then this series is also a wrap. What's Next? Milwaukee will again host the Pistons for Game 2 on Wednesday.