MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 59 points to pace the Milwaukee Bucks to a 127-120 overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.
It was a league high for points by an NBA player this season and the second-highest single-game total for Antetokounmpo, who had 64 against the Indiana Pacers last season.
Three players scored at least 45 points across the NBA on Wednesday night — Victor Wembanyama had a career-high 50 and Karl-Anthony Towns netted 46 — tied for the most on a single day in league history.
Antetokounmpo hit 21 of 34 shots from the field, 16 of 17 free throws and added 14 rebounds and seven assists as the Bucks rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit. It was his eighth career game with 20 made field goals, tying Kobe Bryant and Bob McAdoo for the seventh most in NBA history.
He outscored the Pistons 11-9 in overtime and is the first Bucks player to go 5-for-5 or better in a single OT period since play-by-play was first tracked in 1996-97.
Brook Lopez scored 29 points for the Bucks.
Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 35 points and Malik Beasley had 26 against his former team.
Detroit’s Ron Holland II was fouled by Antetokounmpo with one second left in regulation and the score tied at 111, but Holland missed both free throws.
The Pistons were without starters Jaden Ivey and Tim Hardaway Jr. Ivey was out because of a toe injury and Hardaway sat out after taking stitches to the head following a fall in Tuesday’s game against Miami.
Milwaukee played without Damian Lillard (concussion protocol), Ryan Rollins (left shoulder instability) and Bobby Portis (right elbow contusion).
Takeaways
Pistons: Beasley was hot from 3-point range, hitting 4 of 5 in the first half as Detroit shot 61.5% from beyond the arc (8 of 13). He finished 8 of 16.
Bucks: Antetokounmpo made every basket for Milwaukee in the first quarter, hitting 7-of-10 field-goal attempts and all eight of his free throws for 22 of the team’s 24 points.
Key moment
Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart pulled down Antetokounmpo by the jersey and was assessed a flagrant foul 2 and ejected with 3:02 left in the third quarter. Antetokounmpo made both free throws.
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.