AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Rookie Brandon Knight scored a season-high 26 points, holding his own against Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings and helping the Detroit Pistons snap a seven-game losing streak with an 88-80 victory over the Bucks on Friday night.
Knight, who was outscored 21-0 by Jennings in a loss at Milwaukee on Monday, helped the Pistons build a 15-point lead in the third quarter.
Milwaukee went on an 11-0 run spanning the end of the third and beginning of the fourth, and Detroit led by only four with 2:54 remaining. Knight responded with a floater, followed moments later by a driving shot off the glass, and the Pistons held on.
Jennings scored 20 points, but only seven after the first quarter.
Greg Monroe added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Tayshaun Prince had 13 points for the Pistons. Shaun Livingston was the only other Milwaukee player in double figures with 14 points.
The Bucks had won three straight, including a come-from-behind victory over Miami on Wednesday.
The Pistons led by as many as nine in the first quarter, but Jennings made all five of his shots in the period and it was 26-all after one.
Jennings finished 7 of 19, and the Bucks shot only 35 percent as a team. Milwaukee trailed 51-41 at halftime and never seemed to click offensively after scoring at least 100 points in each of its previous five games.
With Detroit up 58-52, Jennings tried a behind-the-back pass on a 2-on-1 break to Beno Udrih. The play resulted in a turnover, and the Pistons slowly increased their lead.
Knight made a nice bounce pass in transition to Rodney Stuckey for a layup and a 64-53 advantage. Jonas Jerebko made it 70-55 with a dunk.
Milwaukee trailed 72-68 in the fourth, but Monroe scored inside to halt the Bucks' run. That wasn't the last time the Bucks cut the deficit to four. It was 80-76 and 82-78 late in the fourth, but Knight answered both times with a basket.
In their previous five games, the Pistons had allowed opponents to shoot 46 of 89 from 3-point range. Milwaukee was only 3 of 17 on Friday — after making 10 in each of its previous two games.
The Bucks also had only 10 assists — after six straight games with at least 20.
Notes: Detroit is still without G Ben Gordon (shoulder) and F Charlie Villanueva. The team released an update on Villanueva's troublesome right ankle, saying he has a "resolving posterior tibial tenosynovitis with small talotibal spurs." He's expected to need a few weeks of partial immobilization. ... With Vanilla Ice performing at halftime at The Palace, the game drew 13,181.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.