The Milwaukee Bucks have the second-best record in the East with 29 wins against 13 losses. The Detroit Pistons, on the other hand, own the worst record in the entire league with just four wins the entire season.

It stands to reason that when these two teams squared off on the court on Saturday night, the Bucks were the overwhelming favorites to win. Although the Bucks played with full power and eventually came away with a victory, it wasn’t exactly a spectacular display.

The Bucks defeated the Pistons 141–135 to end the game on Saturday. Milwaukee had again another strong offensive performance, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, who combined for 76 points.

The fact that Detroit dropped 135 points over the Bucks speaks volumes of Milwaukee’s defensive performance on the evening. After all, this was the Pistons’ second-largest scoring tally this season (they scored 148 points against the Utah Jazz on January 3).

For his part, Giannis acknowledged his team’s offensive output on Saturday night. The Bucks talisman, however, also conceded that their defense left a lot to be desired:

“At the end of the day, I think we scored 140 points, our defense gotta be better,” he said, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“Offensively we were moving the ball, we were finding open guys, Dame is doing his thing, guys are getting involved, we are heading towards the right direction.”

The Bucks and the Pistons go at it again on Monday night in a rematch at the Little Caesars Arena. Saturday’s win was too close for comfort for Milwaukee, and Giannis knows it. The former back-to-back MVP is calling for a better performance from his side come Monday:

“We have another one in two days (on Monday) and hopefully we can defend a little bit better but we can keep our rhythm offensively and execute the way we did today,” Giannis said.