Milwaukee Bucks vs. Detroit Pistons Preview: For all the (Group B) glory

The Bucks and Pistons battle to clinch an NBA Cup berth

Now over .500, the Milwaukee Bucks will face a tough test in the Detroit Pistons where the winner will clinch Group B of the NBA Cup and advance to the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. The Bucks won the first matchup between the two sides this season, with Giannis dropping 59 points to drag his team over the line in OT.

Where We’re At

It’s been nothing but good vibes for the Bucks of late (sans Khris Middleton injury updates), winners of six straight games and eight of their last nine. Over the last ten games, both the offence and defence rank ninth. Not bad! Zooming in on Milwaukee’s last three, they have beaten the Hornets, Heat, and Wizards. Detroit has not had many high-stakes games in recent seasons, so we can expect Little Caesars Arena to be, dare I say, hostile tonight. For those interested, here is an outlook of the clinching scenarios in both conferences on the final night of group play:

If you’re super-invested in the NBA Cup – or just want to give yourself a fun migraine – here are the clinch scenarios for the final night of group play:

— Howard Beck (@howardbeck.bsky.social) 2024-12-02T16:23:25.389Z

Detroit enters this matchup on more rocky terrain, losers of two of their last three games. They went down to the Grizzlies and the 76ers, but beat the Pacers in Indiana. It should be noted that Cade Cunningham did not play in both losses and was a huge reason they beat Indy. This does not seem like a team that is trying to “capture the Flagg.” No, they appear to be coming different this year.

Injury Report

For Milwaukee, Giannis is probable (right patella tendinopathy), as are Taurean Prince (right quad contusion) and MarJon Beauchamp (left hamstring tendinopathy). Khris Middleton is out (bilateral ankle surgery).

Interestingly, despite missing their last game against the 76ers, Cade Cunningham does not appear on the injury report for Detroit. The only injury absence they will have is Bobi Klintman (right calf contusion).

Player To Watch

The obvious answer is Cade Cunningham, who just had 24 points and 11 assists in their win against the Pacers. But last time the Bucks played the Pistons, our old friend Malik Beasley got off the chain for a season-high 26 points on 8/16 (!) from three. Milwaukee will need to keep Beasley off the three-point line and remember to go at him on offence.

How To Watch

FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin at 6:00 PM CST.

Playback Streaming

brewhoop

new Playback.Embed(“playback-embed”, {
room: “brewhoop”,
style: { height: “100%”, width: “100%” },
});