Detroit Pistons head home to take on Milwaukee Bucks

After an impressive road trip to California, the Detroit Pistons find themselves back at Little Caesars Arena to do battle with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.

While it ultimately finished on a sour note with a 20-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Detroit Pistons exceeded expectations on their first major road trip of the season.

Knocking off the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors back-to-back is a phenomenal achievement and one that shows extremely positive signs for Stan Van Gundy and his crew.

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The game against the Lakers appears to be an anomaly, particularly when you take into account that the Pistons as a collective shot just three free throws for the night.

You’ll also be very lucky to find Avery Bradley shooting 4-of-17 from the field and 0-of-5 from three ever again.

Much of the fanbase were ecstatic with this road trip despite the loss, however, how the team responds at home against the Milwaukee Bucks may tell us more about the Pistons than either of those huge wins did.

Coming out and playing with plenty of energy and effort is non-negotiable.

With the positive buzz around the team and a stud like Giannis Antetokounmpo in town the Pistons are likely to have a healthier crowd than most of their other home games so far this season, and playing up to the standards they have proven themselves to be capable of will go a long way in winning them over.

This game also has pretty sizable repercussions for the Central Division and the Eastern Conference as a whole, despite it only being November.

Antetokounmpo has been playing some unbelievable basketball and is currently averaging 31.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per game, yet the Bucks only find themselves with a 4-4 record.

If the Pistons can knock them off that’ll leave the Pistons and Indiana Pacers as the only teams in the Central Division without a losing record thanks to the struggles of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls.

The Bucks falling to a 4-5 record would put immense pressure on them in the next slate of games.

They face the Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies and then face the Pistons again.

This is quite a tricky stretch of games and could potentially put them behind the early pacesetters of the Eastern Conference despite being touted as one of this season’s most promising teams in the East.

There’s a reason why so many people have been high on the Bucks though, which is why beating them is going to be no walk in the park.

As mentioned, Antetokounmpo is having an unbelievable season and rightfully find himself as an early candidate for the MVP award.

He has such a wide array of tools at his disposal, making him virtually impossible to completely contain.

It will be intriguing to see how Stan Van Gundy attempt to shut him down, as there’s no obvious answer to who should be guarding this seven-footer who moves like a point guard.

Additionally, the Bucks have a handy supporting cast around their young superstar.

Pistons fans still lament letting Khris Middleton go and you can understand why when he’s averaging 19.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

He’s also coming off a scorching performance against the Charlotte Hornets where he dropped a career-high 43 points.

Luckily for the Pistons, he hasn’t been able to find his shot yet this season and is shooting just 27.5 percent from the three-point line, way down from his career average of just under 40 percent.

Malcolm Brogdon appears to be steadily improving after his Rookie of the Year season, while Greg Monroe, Matthew Dellavedova, Thon Maker and Mirza Teletovic are very solid NBA players.

A huge defensive effort is going to be needed from the Pistons if they are any chance to send the Bucks home with a loss.

Milwaukee is currently ranked third in the league for field goal percentage and fourth in three-point percentage, despite their best shooter struggling at the moment.

It goes without saying that Avery Bradley’s defensive nous will play a big factor in shutting some of the Bucks’ offence down.

The Pistons have collectively been strong on defence this season and look much more competent than previous lineups Stan Van Gundy has rolled out.

In the 2016-17 season, the Pistons struggled against the Bucks, going 1-3 in the season series, with two of those losses being non-competitive blowouts.

Next: Is Anthony Tolliver the key to the Pistons defense?

However, it truly seems like this team has taken a serious step up and part of proving that is defending home court as a divisional rival boasting an MVP candidate roll into town.