DETROIT – The Detroit Pistons were scrappy Monday night, but even though they gave the Milwaukee Bucks all they could handle the inexperience of the home team was on full display, allowing the Bucks to win 122-113 at Little Caesars Arena.

The Pistons were leading 109-107 with just over five minutes left and as guard Jaden Ivey was hurriedly buzzing around Giannis Antetokounmpo’s advance upcourt, no Detroit player noticed Brook Lopez sauntering to the top of the three-point line. Antetokounmpo slung it back to his center, and Lopez coolly knocked down the triple to put the Bucks up for good 110-109.

Box score: Bucks 122, Pistons 113

“With the guys on the roster we’re obviously capable of doing that nightly," Lopez said. "I think for a good part of the season, especially close games, we all know that we’ve done that. I think we leaned on that experience, experience we’ve all had for so long in this league to close the game out.”

Antetokounmpo, who recorded his seventh triple-double of the season, then got to the basket three straight times between rushed Pistons shots to extend the lead to 114-111 before his 10th and final assist came when the Pistons inexplicably left him alone to double Khris Middleton behind the three-point line. Middleton quickly slung it to an unencumbered Antetokounmpo, who quickly drew in the entire rest of the Detroit defense – and he kicked it out to a wide open Malik Beasley for a 117-111 lead.

“I felt like guys trusted one another," Antetokounmpo said. "From the pass to Brook when he trailed, from the pass to the corner with ‘Beas’ when he hit the three, from the pass (from) Khris when they double-teamed and he replaced to my side instead of going to the other side, we just know how to play with another, we know how to execute down the stretch. At the end of the day, sometimes you’re going to make shots. Today, we made some shots. Some days we’re going to do exactly the same and we’re going to miss shots. But at the end of the day it’s the execution – we shot clean looks.”

After a ping-pong possession between the teams eventually resulted in a Lopez dunk, Middleton calmly nailed a clinching three-pointer with 2:04 to go. In three minutes of crunch time, the Pistons went a frenetic 1-for-6 from the floor while the Bucks veterans calmly took their time to make baskets when it counted.

“I think we just tried to slow it down a little bit more offensively," Middleton said. "I thought throughout the game we got great shots even when we pushed the ball but I think we just wanted to take advantage of the clock a little bit. Down on the other side, we just got stops. I think we did a great job guarding their initial action and forcing tough shots from three and a couple tough floaters that (Marcus) Sasser made in the paint.

"I think for the most part, we won that game defensively.”

Antetokounmpo finished with 31 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists while Middleton had 26. Damian Lillard added 17 points and eight assists while Lopez (15) and Beasley (13) also reached double figures.

Detroit stayed close thanks to Marcus Sasser (23 points) and Isaiah Stewart (19) off the bench while Jalen Duren added a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double off the bench.

Khris Middleton passes ‘Big Dog’ on Bucks scoring list

And then there were two.

With a dagger-like three-pointer to put the Bucks up 122-111 with 2 minutes 4 seconds left in the game, Khris Middleton passed Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson for No. 3 on the Bucks’ all-time scoring list with his 26^th point of the night.

It was a big basket, too, as the Pistons were falling apart in the final moments and the Bucks settled into a three-minute stretch during which they pushed a one-point lead to 11.

He needed 25 points to pass Robinson, and Middleton now trails only Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the list.

“It means a lot," Middleton said. "Just the work that I’ve put in from where I started. Literally started here, in a different building, but knowing that I didn’t give up on myself once I got traded. During tough times I stayed with it, had belief in myself, belief in my teammates around me and my coaches. So, a lot of credit goes to them also by feeding me that confidence. I’m thankful for these moments."

He started to grin.

"I don’t know if I can creep up a little bit more," he continued. "Those are two top guys to get, but it was pretty cool to be on that list and be top three in the organization or anything, any stat, I think commends the longevity of my career and being here for 11 years now. Not a lot of players in the NBA can say they’ve been with one team for so long.”

Middleton, an original draft pick of Detroit’s in 2012, has 12,012 points in a Bucks uniform in his 11^th season with the team. Robinson, the No. 1 pick in the 1994 draft, scored 12,010 points from 1994-2002 while in Milwaukee.

Antetokounmpo, Abdul-Jabbar, Middleton and Robinson are the only players to score 12,000 points with the franchise.

"I respect this guy," Giannis Antetokounmpo said. "If you've followed his journey closely, I've been with him 11 years. You've seen him, how hard he's worked. Every year he comes back better. Has given everything for the game. He love the game, he's committed to the game, and just being the third all-time leading scorer of the Bucks, it's a compliment. It's not easy to get there. I hope when it's all said and done we both hold all the records."

After an injury-shortened season last year stunted Middleton’s climb up the franchise scoring chart, the 32-year-old has passed Bob Dandridge (11,478), Michael Redd (11,554) and Sidney Moncrief (11,594) this season.

More: The Bucks' Khris Middleton opens up on getting through his toughest year and bouncing back

Antetokounmpo has 17,558 points and counting while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 14,211 points from 1969-75. Lopez holds Brooklyn's franchise scoring mark and Lillard holds Portland's, making the Bucks a unique locker room in that way.

“It’s so cool to see," said Lopez, who recently passed 16,000 points. "He’s made so many clutch buckets for us since I’ve been here, in preseason all the way to Game 6 of the Finals. And obviously he’s done this since before I was here. I’m just honored to be a part of it and I can’t wait to see him continue climbing that list.”

Pistons get physical with Bucks

Lopez kept rolling his eyes and throwing his head back, waiting for one of the game’s three officials to acknowledge Isaiah Stewart's pushes in the back. Or the open court one-handed shove to the shoulder. Or the jab to the stomach.

Lillard was sent backpedaling to the baseline after taking a Bojan Bogdanović shoulder to the face. This after being hit in the neck on the offensive end, with no whistle.

Jae Crowder put his hands on his head after he was called for a kicked ball after digging out an offensive rebound from beneath two Pistons, who fell on top of him. Mike Muscala got his elbows up high on Bobby Portis, trying to push him out of position.

Stewart pushed hard into Giannis Antetokounmpo’s bruised right shoulder during a dead ball, forcing Antetokounmpo to stiffen up to hold his ground before the inbound. The following possession, as Stewart stuck a forearm in his back, Antetokounmpo looked over to an official who nodded he was watching.

The fouls called, overall, favored the Bucks (25 on Detroit, 22 on Milwaukee) but the Pistons – and Stewart in particular – did their best to lean on the Bucks and wear their patience.

Lopez talked his way into a technical foul after receiving his second foul in the first quarter and Portis was hit with a technical near the end of the third quarter – resulting in a conversation with official Leon Wood before the start of the fourth.

“We had to be smart about it," Lopez acknowledged. "We felt that they were definitely letting them be a bit more physical than us in certain situations. We got our points across in our way early and the from there we just tried to be smart and play our game.”

Did that help the Pistons stay close? Perhaps. Stewart was a dervish, playing 28 minutes off the bench, scoring 19 points and pulling down eight rebounds. His return from ankle sprain energized his group and at the very least put something else in the minds of Bucks players in a close game.

Lopez was able to exact a bit of revenge late, however, with an emphatic slam over Stewart to give the Bucks a 119-111 lead with 2 ½ minutes left.

Did you notice?

In the opening seconds of the third quarter, Khris Middleton picked off a Jalen Duren pass and broke down the court with the 6-foot-10-inch Pistons center in hot pursuit. Middleton wasn’t about to offer a chance for the athletic big man to make a highlight chase down block, so Middleton flushed it strong with one hand – much to the surprised delight of the Bucks bench. Andre Jackson Jr. and Cameron Payne were particularly hyped for their 32-year-old teammate, who joked earlier in the season that his dunking days were behind him.

5 numbers

• 6 Triple-doubles for Giannis Antetokounmpo this season. Denver’s Nikola Jokić and Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis are tied for the league lead with 12.

• 9 Straight wins for the Bucks over the Pistons.

• 11 Straight wins for the Bucks over the Pistons in Detroit.

• 14 Consecutive three-pointers missed by the Bucks in the first half after starting 3-for-3. Milwaukee was 3-for-17 (17.6%) in the first half in taking a 58-56 lead vs. Detroit.

• 30 Technical fouls on Bucks players this season after Brook Lopez picked up his fourth in the first quarter and Bobby Portis was assessed his ninth near the end of the third quarter.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Giannis Antetokounmpo has triple-double as Bucks beat Pistons 122-113