Before the game, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was reportedly making headlines for the trade request that he may or may not have made. According to those in the know, such as Shams Charania, Antetokounmpo is fed up with the leadership in Milwaukee, and he’s now interested in selecting his next home for (potentially) the remainder of his NBA career. 

Then a few minutes into the game, Giannis Antetokounmpo was making more headlines for the lower-body injury that he’d just suffered. In between possessions, Antetokounmpo inbounded the basketball to his teammate, then he went down onto the hardwood in a heap. There was no one around Giannis when he crumpled to the floor, and his injury looked to be of the non-contact variety. 

On the broadcast, Antetokounmpo could clearly be heard saying that he felt he was “pushed” from behind, though there were no Pistons players in his vicinity. Still, Antetokounmpo looked severely agitated as the Bucks’ training staff made their way out onto the court to tend to the All-NBA player. 

Cade Crumbles In Clutch, Giannis Injured: Pistons Suffer 113-109 Loss To Milwaukee Bucks In unlikely fashion, Cade Cunningham was not the guy to call in the crunch against the Bucks

At that moment, the pendulum seemingly shifted in the Pistons’ favor big time, and the Cade Cunningham-led squad was able to manage a 52-49 lead on the road by halftime. In the second half, the Bucks posted 64 points, led by a 26-point effort from Kevin Porter Jr. as the Giannis-less Milwaukee squad mounted a staggering comeback.

“I'll say it going blue in the face, but defensively we just weren't as good as we're capable of being,” Bickerstaff said after the game. “We gave up some open threes, and that's what this team thrives off of. I thought for the most part, in the game, we did a really good job of defending the three-point line, but we had some breakdowns that they made us pay from the three-point line, and then that allowed them to settle their zone and we couldn't get going in transition. So, again, it'll always fall back to our defense. You know, 35 points in the fourth quarter is going to make it hard on you.”

The Bucks connect on more three-pointers per game than any other team in the NBA and they also are exceedingly accurate in shooting from behind the arc, and that pattern bled through into Milwaukee’s on-court strategy once again. Eventually, the Bucks were able to close the game out down the stretch and laid claim to a 113-109 victory. 

READ MORE: Should The Detroit Pistons Enter The Giannis Sweepstakes?

“So, it's a great opportunity for us to learn from these situations, to understand [the] defense will carry,” Bickerstaff said. “If you get stops, they don't get an opportunity to set up in that zone. So, it slowed us down. We got stagnant versus that zone. We could have moved it a little bit better, but that's on me to help the guys more in the zone, make it easier for them.”

As Bickerstaff alluded to, the Pistons were faced with a zone defense to crack when they had the ball on the Bucks’ end of the court. Now, typically the way to counter a zone set-up is to shoot over the top, but with Duncan Robinson injured and unable to play for the Pistons, there was a distinct lack of outside shooters capable of making the Bucks pay. 

“It's us doing a better job of relieving pressure for one another, us doing a better job of trying to stay out of small spaces, which that zone kind of forced us into,” Bickerstaff said. “But again, we'll go back. We'll watch the tape of it, and these are great opportunities for us to learn and continue to improve and get better, which is our goal over the whole season.”

J.B. Bickerstaff Named Eastern Conference Coach Of The Month With Pistons In 1st Place The Detroit Pistons are off to a hot start a quarter of the way into the regular season

But even with a loss on Wednesday to the Bucks, right now the Pistons still stand in first place of the Eastern Conference at 17-5 on the season. Next up, Detroit will face the Portland Trailblazers on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 pm. 

For more information on the latest Detroit Pistons team or player news, follow @EricJRutter on X for continued basketball coverage. Also be sure to look up Roundtable - Michigan Men Media on Facebook for continued social media coverage of all the sporting teams in the Mitten.