Giannis Antetokounmpo received a must-needed rest as the Milwaukee Bucks closed out the season.
The Milwaukee Bucks closed out the season with an eighth successive win, ending the year as the most in-form team in the Eastern Conference.
The Bucks clinched with a 140-133 victory over the Detroit Pistons, and an unlikely hero stepping up.
Pat Connaughton scored a spectacular 43 points, also grabbing 11 rebounds and 5 assists.
The star of the show in the first quarter was Kyle Kuzma. He only played the first quarter, with head coach Doc Rivers feeling he had proved his point.
Kuzma scored a spectacular 22 points in the first quarter, which Rivers said was a deliberate game plan to run their offense through him.
Rivers told his press conference: “It was intentional on our part, trying to get him involved in every single play. Be aggressive. That was good for him.”
Following Kuzma’s 17 against the Pelicans last week, Rivers had admitted: “We need to get him going.”
Kuzma’s biggest score for the Bucks since his mid-season trade was a 25 point showing. He would have exceeded this if permitted to play more than a quarter against the Pistons on the final day.
But there was no need to risk an injury pursuing further individual stats. The Bucks gave him a confidence boost, and can now rest up for a week while the play-in tournament goes on.
Rivers was thrilled by what he saw from his team across the game, although was most energized by what he saw early on.
He added: “He [Connaughton] was great, him and Pete [Nance] really orchestrated the whole team today.
“I loved the way Kuz came out in the first half. I loved the first quarter, with 43 points, ball movement, it was really high level basketball, it was nice to watch.”
Despite the Bucks’ 43-25 start, the game ended up going to overtime before the Bucks won out 140-133 in the end.
