MILWAUKEE — The Detroit Pistons ended their 2024-25 season Sunday with a loss. Now, they can prepare for the New York Knicks in the NBA playoffs.

The Pistons fell to the Milwaukee Bucks on the road in overtime, 140-133, at Fiserv Forum. Both teams were shorthanded, resting starters and veterans with the postseason set to begin next Saturday.

The Pistons finished 44-38, tying their mark in 2015-16, and as the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference will face the 3-seed Knicks (51-31) at Madison Square Garden in a week. The Pistons won three of four in the regular season.

They were led in scoring Sunday by Malik Beasley’s 23 points in 19 minutes off the bench, and Marcus Sasser finished with 18 points and 10 assists.

The Pistons were without Cade Cunningham, a last-minute scratch with left knee patellar tendinopathy. Isaiah Stewart missed his second straight game with left knee inflammation, and Ausar Thompson also sat with left knee patellar tendinopathy.

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The Bucks rested most of their core players, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis, Gary Trent Jr. and Taurean Prince.

Even without their superstar, they dominated most of the first half by knocking down 14 of 24 attempts from 3, building a 71-55 halftime lead. Flint native Kyle Kuzma stepped up with 22 points in the first quarter, but sat the rest of the game after just 12 minutes.

After trailing by as many as 22 in the first half, the Pistons rallied in the second half. They outscored the Bucks by 10 points in the third quarter, and opened the fourth with an 11-3 run to take the lead, 103-101, midway through the period. Down 123-120 with 8.3 seconds left, Lindy Waters III knocked down a corner 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining to force overtime. He finished 6-for-16 shooting, all 3s, for 18 points in 35 minutes.

The Bucks opened overtime with an 8-0 run, with Pat Connaughton making two out of three free throws following a flagrant foul from Smith and made 3-pointer, to put the game away. It was a career game for Connaughton, who stepped up with a career-high 43 points (16-for-29 shooting) and 11 rebounds.

The 5-seed Bucks (48-34) will visit the 4-seed Indiana Pacers in a first-round rematch.

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Malik Beasley goes for NBA 3-point title 

It has been a historic season for the veteran sharpshooter, who already owned the single-season franchise record for made 3-pointers with 312 going into Sunday. He’s one of just five players — including Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, James Harden and Anthony Edwards — in NBA history to make at least 300 3-pointers in a season. 

He entered the final game of the season with an opportunity to accomplish two more feats he previously hadn’t — leading the NBA in made 3-pointers for a season and playing all 82 games. Beasley accomplished the second feat the moment he checked into the first quarter, and did what he could to secure the first as well. 

Beasley trailed Edwards by one 3-pointer before Sunday’s matinee, and clearly was aware of the count. He knocked down four 3-pointers in the first half before opening the second half on a heater, knocking down three more 3-pointers in the midst of a 13-2 run that cut a 16-point halftime deficit to five, 73-68, at the 9:21 mark of the third period. 

He checked out of the game for good midway through the third, with seven made 3-pointers on 11 attempts. The Minnesota Timberwolves’ game against the Utah Jazz tips off at 3:30 p.m., and Edwards has to make at least six 3-pointers to tie Beasley. The T’wolves are fighting for playoff positioning in the Western Conference.

Even if Edwards gets the record, it won’t dampen the impact Beasley has had on this team both on and off the floor. 

“He’s relentless in his approach every single day,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said pregame. “There’s no days off. He’s at shootaround early before everybody else, he’s in practice after everybody has left. He’s just one of those guys that you can see he puts the time in. And then with the great shooters, playmakers, he doesn’t have to have his feet set or body set. He just knows how to get his shot off and create space, and that’s something that I think young players should be able to watch and learn.”

More: Pistons confident after drawing Knicks in NBA playoff series

Pistons wind down in preparation for playoffs

Cunningham was “probable” entering the game, and went through his normal pregame routine before tipoff. But when the starters were officially released, he was listed as “inactive.”

He joined Antetokounmpo and most of the Bucks’ rotation in street clothes. Sasser started in Cunningham’s stead, and his absence along with Stewart’s and Thompson’s opened opportunity for the end of the bench. 

Motor City Cruise big man Tolu Smith made his NBA debut, and 2024 second-round pick Bobi Klintman scored his first NBA points and finished with 15 points (6-for-8 shooting, 2-for-4 on 3s) and six assists.

Sasser (43 minutes) and Waters led the Pistons in minutes, and Smith played 22 minutes with Klintman at 23 minutes.

Starters Jalen Duren (eight minutes), Tim Hardaway Jr. (12 minutes) and Tobias Harris (10 minutes) sat out the second half. Ron Holland started for Thompson and played 23 minutes, but was quiet with five points (2-for-4 shooting) and one assist.

Bickerstaff opened the final period with a lineup featuring three two-way players, Klintman and Waters. They outscored Milwaukee 31-25, with Waters’ 3 sending it into overtime. Klintman picked up where he left off from summer league last July, showing off his playmaking with four assists after halftime. In overtime, Bickerstaff largely stuck with the same unit except with Sasser replacing Daniss Jenkins.

Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. Follow him on X and/or Bluesky.

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