MILWAUKEE -Rookie Brandon Jennings scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half, Hakim Warrick came off the bench to add 21 points and the Milwaukee Bucks won their home opener with a 96-85 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night.
Tayshun Prince's 11-foot jumper from the baseline pulled the Pistons to 81-77 with 5:51 to play, but Warrick made two free throws and Jennings hit a runner in the lane as the Bucks went up by eight.
Playing with five fouls over the final three minutes, Jennings darted through the Pistons' defense and kept the Bucks from failing down the stretch.
He hit two free throws with 2:34 left, and after Ersan Ilyasova scored on a putback for Milwaukee, Jennings stole the ball and passed to Ilyasova, who was fouled on the play. His two free throws made it 95-83 with 1:07 left.
Jennings left to a standing ovation when Bucks coach Scott Skiles took him out of the game.
Ben Gordon scored 26, Rodney Stuckey 13 and Prince had 12 points for Detroit.
Richard Hamilton missed his second game with a sprained right ankle. He did not play in the Pistons' 91-83 loss at home to Oklahoma City on Friday. The Pistons won their opener at Memphis.
Jennings, the 10th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, was a rebound and an assist short of a triple double in his first professional game. He had 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in Friday's season-opening loss to the 76ers and just missed Oscar Robertson's league record set on October 19, 1960, when he recorded a triple-double in his debut for the Cincinnati Royals.
Jennings and Warrick teamed up to erase the Pistons' 11-point halftime lead.
Trailing 49-38, the Bucks opened the third with a 28-8 run sparked by Jennings' 16 points and two steals and Warrick's six. They led 66-57 with 2:14 to go in the quarter.
Jennings picked up his fourth foul with two minutes left and went to the bench, but Milwaukee kept up the pace up and pushed the lead to 74-63 heading into the final period.
Charlie Villanueva had four points in the opening quarter in his first regular-season appearance as a Piston after spending the previous three seasons with the Bucks. He got going in the fourth quarter when he hit two 3s and a jumper and finished with 12 points. He signed as an unrestricted free agent with Detroit in July.
Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut, who were brought along slowly during the preseason, returned to the Bradley Center for the first time since each sustained season-ending injuries in January that crushed the Bucks' hopes for their first playoff appearance since the 2005-06 season.
Redd, who scored 17 points Friday night, tore ligaments in his left knee against Sacramento Jan. 24. He missed the last 35 games of the season.
Redd had nine points against the Pistons, but left during the third quarter with left knee soreness.
Bogut, who missed the final 31 games with a sore lower back, had six points and eight rebounds.
NOTES: Pistons coach John Kuester said that Hamilton, who did not make the trip, was day to day. ... Bucks G/F Carlos Delfino was back after serving a one-game suspension for his role in a preseason fight with Pistons F Austin Daye. ... Last season's "American Idol" finalist Danny Gokey sang the National Anthem in front of his hometown crowd and then entertained them at halftime.
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