Fear the deer.
Opposing teams are beginning to build some trepidation for Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings too. Jennings and the resurgent Bucks will hit the road tonight to take on the lowly Detroit Pistons and look to win four straight games for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign.
Milwaukee has disposed of some of the NBA's hottest teams lately and became the only club to beat star-studded Miami twice this season with a 105-97 victory on Wednesday behind 31 points and eight assists from Jennings, who buried 7-of-14 three-pointers and helped the Bucks erase an 18-point deficit in the first half. The Bucks also survived a 40-point performance from Heat star LeBron James, but it was Jennings who stole the show.
"Brandon was great," Bucks head coach Scott Skiles said of his point guard. "When we needed big shots he was able to knock them down."
Drew Gooden scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and Ersan Ilyasova added nine points and 14 rebounds. Carlos Delfino and Mike Dunleavy scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, in Milwaukee's season-high third straight win and sixth in the past eight tries. The Bucks, who will play three of five games as the guest, will try to work on their 3-9 record away from home this evening at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Jennings has tallied 20-plus points in eight of the last nine games, averaging 24.3 ppg over that span. Ilyasova is averaging 9.3 points and 10.1 rebounds over his last six contests. The Bucks have scored 100 or more points in each of the last five games, the longest streak since the 2007-08 season.
Detroit is mired in a season-high seven-game slide and hasn't lost eight in a row since an 11-game slump from March 13-April 3, 2010. It is coming off an 0-4 road trip which ended with Wednesday's 99-96 loss at New Jersey.
Greg Monroe and Tayshaun Prince both scored 21 points, while Brandon Knight ended with 15 and missed a three-pointer with 1.8 seconds to go.
"It felt good, but it didn't go in," Knight said. "I would have liked to have been a little more open."
Prince is averaging 16.0 points in his last 10 games and Monroe is posting 18.0 points and 10.2 rebounds in his previous six. Monroe has recorded a double-double in five of his last six games. Knight is averaging 13.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 18 games as a starter.
The Pistons are just 4-20 under first-year head coach Lawrence Frank, who piloted the Nets from 2004 until early on in the 2009-10 season. Frank's bunch will play 12 of its next 17 games on its home floor and is 3-8 at The Palace.
Detroit has lost the first two meetings of the season with Milwaukee and three of the last four overall matchups in this series. The Bucks have lost two straight, three of four and 13 of their past 16 trips to Auburn Hills. Jennings is averaging 24.0 ppg in the two meetings with Detroit this season, while Monroe has averaged 24 points and 13 rebounds.
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