The Milwaukee Bucks continue to find a way to get it done this season.
The Detroit Pistons had Blake Griffin play for the first time this series and despite a slow game from Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks still won big 119-103.
Griffin had a big game with 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists but Andre Drummond's struggles hindered the Pistons' chances.
It was a team-effort scoring wise from Milwaukee who got solid contributions from Khris Middleton (20 points), Eric Bledsoe (19 points) and Brook Lopez (19 points) as they take a commanding 3-0 series lead over Detroit.
For more on their Game 3 matchup, we have you covered with takeaways below.
Blake Griffin's return
Griffin missed the final game of the regular season when the Pistons were playing for the playoffs, then sat Game 1 and Game 2 of this series with a lingering knee injury.
He finally was able to overcome the pain to play in Game 3 and even though the outcome was not much different, Griffin's performance was encouraging.
Though you could see he was still dealing with some pain, his numbers would tell you otherwise. Griffin finished with 27 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals in 31 minutes of play.
His efforts made him the first Piston since Chauncey Billups in 2008 to have at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in a playoff game.
With their backs against the wall, Detroit will need all they can get from Griffin. If they'll have any chance to turn this thing around and make some noise in this series, they'll need even more than they got from their All-Star forward should he be good to go for Game 4.
Bucks' showcase team depth
In a relative off-game for their MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo, who only finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 turnovers on 5-of-13 shooting, the rest of the Milwaukee Bucks roster stepped up to the plate and completely outplayed their counterparts.
Seven different players scored in double figures as the Bucks' back-up unit scored 37 on 10-of-21 shooting with the biggest contributions from the reserves coming from - Ersan Ilyasova (15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field) and George Hill (11 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.).
Giannis Antetokounmpo was a minus-6 in his 16 first-half minutes, which means the Bucks outscored the Pistons by 19 points in the 8 minutes he sat.
— Keith Langlois (@Keith_Langlois) April 21, 2019
Among the starters, three of them scored in double figures- Eric Bledsoe (19 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds), Khris Middleton (20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 rebounds, 7-14 shooting), and Brook Lopez (19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks and 2 assists on 8-of-13 shooting).
Despite turning the ball over seven more times, in addition to Giannis' rough game, the Bucks took care of business because of their superior shooting - 48.8% from the field (Pistons - 38.5%) and 36.8% from beyond the arc (Pistons - 30.6%).
Bucks late first-half run seals the game
At 8:18 mark in the second quarter, the Pistons were only down by 1 point [40-41].
Over the remaining time in the first half, the Bucks went on a 26-14 run to seal this game up early. Courtesy of this run, the Milwaukee franchise increased their 8-point first quarter lead to 13.
As we mentioned earlier, the team played exception without Giannis and executed a majority of this run with the Greek Freak on the bench - only 4:06 minutes of the run was he on the court.
Now, leading the series 3-0, the Bucks are 1 win away from clinching their first playoff series since 2001.
Needing more from Drummond
Drummond just couldn't get things going in Game 3.
Milwaukee's front court, and Brook Lopez in particular, disrupted Drummond's flow from the start and he was never able to get in rhythm through the game's entirity.
The Pistons' centre went 1-for-7 from the field in the first quarter on his way to two points and two turnovers. He scored another two points in the second frame, finishing the half an ugly 2-for-10 from the field with three turnovers and three fouls.
He only took four shots in the second half finishing with just 12 points in the game and even the rebounding numbers were down for Drummond's standards, grabbing 12 boards.
Drummond only scored 12 points in Game 1 and upped that scoring total to 18 points in Game 2, but he had a setback in this one.
As a player that was second on the team in scoring throughout the regular season with 17.3 points per game, the Pistons will have to get more from Drummond to make this series competitive.
He's minus-85 through the first three games of the series and needs to turn things around fast before Detroits season is over.