The past week has been rough on the Milwaukee Bucks, who flew out west for a four-game road trip. Last night, the Bucks were embarrassed at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Milwaukee suffered a 35-point blowout in a 129-94 defeat to the Kings. This is now the third loss in four games for the Bucks, who in the past week have lost to the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers.
Milwaukee’s loss drops the team to 42-24. They still sit a half-game above the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second seed in the Eastern Conference. On Thursday night, we’ll see the Milwaukee Bucks back at home at the Fiserv Forum as they take on the Philadelphia 76ers. Without MVP, and Philly star Joel Embiid, Milwaukee could cruise to this victory, unless they play like they did last night against Sacramento. For the Kings, they improve to 37-27, and will play the Los Angeles Lakers tonight.
Milwaukee Bucks Suffers 129-94 Loss Against the Kings
The last time these two teams met up was on January 14th, when the Bucks put up an insane 143-142 win over the Kings. Through the first minute and a half of this ballgame, the Kings held an 8-0 lead. Milwaukee would try to fight in this matchup early. They were down by either three or four points multiple times, but could not find a way to tie or take the lead.
Sacramento’s biggest lead of the quarter was 11, but by the time the first quarter ended, the Kings had an eight-point lead. Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped eight points for the Bucks in that first quarter, while Damian Lillard could not find his shot as he had zero points in three field goal attempts.
Although Milwaukee was down six early on during the second quarter the Kings found their rhythm once again. Sacramento shot 64 percent from the field compared to Milwaukee’s 41 percent. The Kings would go on to hold a 19-point lead heading into halftime. Even with Antetokounmpo scoring 22 first-half points, the Kings had five players score in double-digits in those first two-quarters of action.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ best quarter of play during their matchup against the Kings last night was in the third quarter. Milwaukee outscored the Kings 22-20 and made 37 percent of their shots compared to the Kings’ 30 percent. Even with all their efforts, the Bucks were on the outside looking in. This Bucks team was down 17 heading into the final quarter of play. No player from either side scored more than seven points during that third quarter.
Sacramento outscored Milwaukee 34-16 in the fourth quarter, giving the Kings a ridiculous 35-point lead, and an eventual 129-94 win. Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 30 points along with 13 rebounds, four assists, and a steal. Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox finished with 29 points, six rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. Malik Monk had 25 points in the Kings win.
One of the most surprising statlines of the night was the performance of Damian Lillard, who went two for 12 from the field, and one for six behind the arc finishing with 10 points, five rebounds, six assists, a steal, and a block. Damian Lillard was practically begging for the ball in the Milwaukee Bucks Sunday night win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Giannis Antetokounmpo explained that Lillard would go on to say this in-game the Bucks win over the Clippers.
“Dame wanted the ball. He was yelling, ‘Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball!’ When a guy like that is yelling for the ball, you gotta give it to him.”
It’s understandable when one of the best shooters in the NBA asks for the ball, you give it to him. Unless, he’s having a terrible shooting night, like he did last night against the Kings. If he doesn’t have the hot hand, Lillard must understand that going forward, he needs to pass the ball along to his teammates. This Milwaukee Bucks team has been predicted by many to win this year’s NBA Championship, but they won’t go far at all if they keep getting obliterated by Western Conference foes.
