Bucks vs Kings Game Preview
The 48-19 Milwaukee Bucks take on the 40-26 Sacramento Kings Monday Night in downtown Sacramento at the Golden 1 Center. The Kings are having a great year, led by star Domantas Sabonis and upstart point guard De’Aaron Fox. The Bucks will be at full strength and the Kings are playing well. It should be a fun, defense-less, high scoring NBA regular season game.
The Bucks are coming off a tough overtime loss against the Golden State Warriors while the Kings recently beat the Suns 128-119.
Vegas has the Bucks at a 52% chance to win and 2 point favorites. The Kings lead the league in team scoring with 121 points per game. They don’t shoot a ton of threes (only 3 less per game than Milwaukee) but they make their shots.
Related: Giannis and avoiding “the club”
Bucks keys
Score over 118 points
This feels like the optimal number for Milwaukee. The last time they lost they lost in overtime to the Warriors in Golden State. Scoring 116 points wasn’t enough. And the loss before that they did manage 130 points (the Sixers scored 133) but it also just wasn’t enough.
When the Bucks score over 118, they usually win. On the season the Bucks are scoring just under 116 points a game.
Getting 70 points from their big three (Giannis, Khris and Jrue) and then a combination of 48 from Brook, Bobby, Grayson, and Jevon usually does it.
The Bucks should be able to aim for that 118 point number against Sacramento and tomorrow night against Phoenix.
Keep that lock down 4th quarter defense going
The Bucks have played excellent 4th quarter defense, only giving up around 27 points in the 4th quarter on the season. They rank 5th overall in the NBA on that account. On Saturday against Orlando they gave up 31 points in the 4th. It proved to be just a bit too much. Milwaukee needs to keep up that tough defense in the 4th to continue to finish games and seal the win.
Sacramento has been playing lock-down 4th quarter defense as well. They are currently ranked 2nd in the NBA.
The Opponent: The Sacramento Kings
Harrison Barnes is a workingman’s forward who has played well of late. He is averaging 15/4/2 on the season and in his last five games is averaging 20 a game.
26 year-old Domantas Sabonis is a big man. At 7’1” he is more than just a center, he shoots from the mid range well and is great on the pick n’ pops. So far this season he is averaging 19.0 points a game, 12.3 rebounds and leads the team in assists(7.0) . To have your center lead your team in assists is pretty rare.
De’Aaron Fox is a really good scorer. When he was injured, it really hurt Sacramento. He is a player who has really benefited from the Buddy Hield + Tyrese Haliburton for Sabonis trade.
The Kings have some other nice players that have played a little above expectation. Kevin Huerter came over from Atlanta as a free agent. He has played well, shooting just under 40% (39.9) from three. He has been able to help Sabonis and Fox by hitting some big shots.
If the Kings as a team have a true strength it has been shooting and passing. They are currently 2nd in the NBA in team assists (28.1) and 4th in team field goal percentage (49.4%).
If the Kings as a team have a weakness it is blocking and altering shots. They are second to last in the NBA (29th) in blocks (4.5 a game).
Things to tell your buddies as you are watching the game
- The Bucks are 9-6 when Giannis does not play.
- This is the last time the Kings and Bucks will play this year.
- Sacramento was originally based in Kansas City. They did not want to be the Royals because of the baseball team so they became the Kansas City Kings. The franchise traces its history all the way back to 1923.
- The Kings play in the Golden 1 Center. What is a Golden 1 you might ask? It’s a large credit Union in Northern California. For the Wisconsinites in the house, Golden 1 is bigger than all of the credit unions in Wisconsin combined.
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