AUBURN HILLS, Mich, April 17 (Ticker) -- In a game the Milwaukee Bucks had to have, they were had.

The Bucks' once-promising season ended in horrid fashion with a 123-89 to the Detroit Pistons, who received 24 points from Clifford Robinson and 23 from Jerry Stackhouse.

Milwaukee (41-41), which was 35-25 on March 6 and in first place in the Central Division until a home loss to Detroit on March 16, was eliminated from playoff contention when Indiana beat Philadelphia to claim the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

The Bucks were one win away from reaching the NBA Finals last season and considered the favorite in the East this season. They missed the playoffs for the first time since 1998.

NBA TV highlights from Bucks-Pistons: 56k | 300k Chucky's all-out effort: 56k | 300k E.piphany of the Day: 56k | 300k Clifford Robinson sliced Darvin Ham and the Bucks D for 23 points. Allen Einstein NBAE/Getty Images

"It's a disappointment which was created by ourselves, our lack of urgency and our lack of commitment," Bucks coach George Karl said. "We had a lot of opportunities but we never made the total commitment. We have no one to blame but ourselves."

After Glenn Robinson hit a floater in the lane to give Milwaukee a 19-12 advantage with 4:50 remaining in the first period, the Pistons closed the quarter on a 20-4 burst.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Jon Barry and Chucky Atkins made it 49-33 with 6:43 left in the second quarter, and the Pistons extended their lead to 64-44 at halftime. It was the most points Detroit had scored in the first half this season.

"I think we came out with a lot of energy and juice," Karl said. "(Then) they made a lot of shots. They made threes that broke our hearts."

Milwaukee, which played with little fight after the first-half barrage, got no closer than 18 points in the second half and trailed by at least 30 points for the better part of the last 18 minutes.

"I didn't think we had enough energy in our tank to come from behind," Karl said. "Detroit had great enthusiasm. They had more will than we did tonight. When we got down, we just self-destructed."

Detroit shot 55 percent (44-of-80) while Milwaukee connected on 44 percent (36-of-81). The Pistons made 15-of-24 3-pointers and limited the Bucks to just 2-of-16 from the arc.

"I guarantee we are going to enjoy this win because it was a great effort by all on our team," Pistons coach Rick Carlisle said. "It was playoff intensity that they displayed and that's what it takes to win playoff basketball."

Detroit (50-32) already had secured the second seed in the East and home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs. It will face seventh-seeded Toronto in the opening round.

"We were not going to make a statement," said Wallace, who joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players in NBA history to lead the league in blocks and rebounds in the same season. "We started the season strong and we wanted to finish strong."

Glenn Robinson scored 21 points to pace Milwaukee, which dropped its 12th straight road contest. The Bucks did not win away from the Bradley Center since a March 3 triumph at Cleveland.

"We didn't work hard enough," said Sam Cassell, who had six points. "The way it looked it was like they needed this game to get into the playoffs. They did everything right and we did everything wrong."

"We can play basketball," said Ray Allen, who also had just six points and sat for much of the second half. "We've shown it. We just didn't play together and we're going to have to visit that this summer."