Jalen Duren scored 21 points with nine rebounds to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 137-111 win over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.
Detroit (58-22), already the owner of the top seed in the Eastern Conference, bounced back from a loss against Orlando on Monday and won its fourth game in its last five contests.
Duncan Robinson added 20 points for Detroit while its superstar Cade Cunningham made his return from an 11-game absence for a collapsed lung. He contributed 13 points with 10 assists.
The Bucks (31-49) fell for the second game in a row and eighth time in their last 10 games. Michigan native Ryan Rollins led Milwaukee with 23 points while Jericho Sims put up a triple-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Milwaukee appeared competitive early on with AJ Green and Ousmane Dieng combining for 19 points and the Pistons holding just a six-point edge after the first quarter despite shooting 60.9% (14 of 23).
Detroit then grew a lead as large as 16 in the second quarter, though a 14-2 Milwaukee run got the Bucks back within four points.
The momentum of that run quickly dissipated as the Pistons bounced back and went into halftime with their largest lead to that point of 18, 75-57. Robinson led the charge for Detroit with 15 points in the half while Rollins came out firing for Milwaukee with 14.
The Bucks continued to make shots from deep in the second half, though the Pistons shot much more efficiently. Detroit continued to shoot around 60% from the floor throughout much of the game and went 5 of 8 from deep in the third quarter.
Detroit won the season series 3-1, marking the first time the Pistons outright won the season set against the Bucks since the 2015-16 campaign. That also was the last season Milwaukee missed the playoffs prior to this year.
