NBA Game Notes (Jan. 20, 2024)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on January 20, 2024.

Bucks Outscore Pistons

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Detroit Pistons 141-135, a high-scoring affair that featured five ties and 15 lead changes. The Bucks have scored at least 130 points in 17 games this season, tying the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers for the most such games in NBA history by a team through its first 42 games of a season.

The Bucks’ Damian Lillard scored a season-high 45 points, dished out a game-high 11 assists, and grabbed six rebounds. It’s the sixth time Lillard has recorded at least 45 points and 10 assists in a game, tying Trae Young for the fifth-most such games in NBA history.

Lillard went 12-22 from the field — including 5-11 on 3-pointers — and made all 16 of his free throws. Lillard has 13 career games in which he’s made at least 15 free throws without a miss, one shy of James Harden’s NBA record of 14 such games.

The second member of the Bucks’ dynamic duo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, scored 31 points on 10-16 shooting from the field, adding a game-high 10 rebounds and nine assists. Antetokounmpo now has 117 career 30-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist games, the second-most such games since the ABA-NBA merger (LeBron James, 126).

Bucks center Brook Lopez posted a double-double, scoring 19 points (7-13 field goals) and snagging 10 rebounds. He also blocked a game-high three shots. It’s the 281st time Lopez has recorded at least three blocks in a game, just one game shy of the active leader, Anthony Davis.

Alec Burks came off the bench to score a team-high 33 points for the Pistons, also contributing seven rebounds and six assists in 30 turnover-free minutes. He shot 7-14 from 3-point range and 8-8 from the free throw line. Burks is the first bench player to record multiple 30-point games in a season for the Pistons since Richard Hamilton in 2008-09.

Rookie teammate Ausar Thompson scored a career-high 22 points and collected nine rebounds. He made a career-high 10 field goals in 15 attempts, sinking multiple 3-pointers in a game for just the second time in his career.

Pistons guard Jaden Ivey had 18 points, six rebounds, and six assists. He’s recorded at least 15 points and five assists in each of his last six games, the longest such streak of his career. The last Piston to record at least six such games in a row in his second season was Grant Hill in 1995-96.