After a fart of a basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Kings are back in the comfort of home and ready to take on the best team in the NBA through 60-ish games; the Milwaukee Bucks. Led by the science experiment named Giannis Antetokounmpo and his new head coach, Mike Budenholzer, the Bucks have gone from Eastern Conference also-ran, to absolute title contender. The play fast, they chuck threes, they have the most wholesome Kaiju that has ever smashed small cities into dust since Mothra stopped being a thing people knew about. The Bucks are pretty perfect, and the Kings have a chance to whoop on them. Let’s talk Kings basketball!

When: Wednesday, February 26th, 7:00 PM PST

Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento CA

TV: NBCSCA

Radio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM

For Your Consideration

Run Amok with Bucks: So the team that’s coming into the Golden 1 Center tonight to face the Kings is good. They’re damn good. If Giannis Antetokounmpo’s right knee soreness doesn’t hinder him enough to sit, then you’re going to have the pleasure of seeing the team with the best record in the NBA, with the front-runner for MVP in the building. Make no mistakes about The Greek Freak, his continued emergence has pushed him past the realm of superstar and right to the hilt of legendary player. I’m in no way going out on a limb to say that Giannis is the closest thing NBA fans have had to a Shaq levels of unstoppable, especially in the paint and because this is 2019, he’s also been shooting 36% from behind the arc since the turning of the calendar. The kid is admired now, and because he’s a genuinely wholesome person outside of the 48 minutes he’s dragging teams to their dooms, he’s easy to root for. Give it a few years and we’re all going to be mortified of him in the same way that we all were of O’Neal.

So let’s jump into some numbers here: the Bucks do a ton of things well so it won’t be hard to pick what we want to talk about. First off, some fun ones: the Bucks are the second highest scoring team in the NBA at 117 points per games and they run at the 5th fastest pace, as well. If you were hoping the Kings could run this deer to death, it ain’t happening. The Bucks are also the best rebounding team in the league, the second best shot blocking team, and on average foul less than twenty-five other NBA teams. I think you’re starting to see that these really aren’t all that fun, so, how about some more?! The Bucks attempt the second most threes, and hit them at over 35% which lands them at just under the midpoint for NBA teams. They’re also leading the league in two point percentage, shooting a team average of 57.1% from inside the arc. This is probably because that seven footer that they can have play point guard if they like, is currently shooting almost SIXTY FOUR PERCENT from inside the arc. To ease your viewing experience tonight, just consider it this way: if Giannis is within 5-7 feet of the rim, it’s 2 points for the Bucks. Consider it automatic, because if he wants it, it will be there. The guy is averaging 27.2 points, 12.7 rebounds, 6 assists and 1.5 blocks a contest, all while averaging a pedestrian 72% from the free throw line, and an abysmal 24.3% from deep. Oh yeah, thanks again for reminding me that he’s shooting better from three in 2019 than JAMES HARDEN. (To be fair, Harden has made more threes than Giannis has attempted BUT I DIGRESS!)

It isn’t just all Giannis, though. The Bucks are a deep team. They’ve got a dueling point guard combo of Eric Bledsoe and former rookie of the year Malcolm Brogdon both averaging over 15 a game. Fellow All-Star Khris Middleton is averaging 17 points 6 rebounds and 4 assists while shooting over 38% from deep. At the deadline they added sniper Nikola Mirotic to their bevy of shotmakers. This team is also coached by one of the better basketball minds in the game today in Mike Budenholzer. The Bucks rock. If the Kings come out like they did against the Timberwolves on Monday night, they’re absolutely going to get smokeshowed.

Prediction

Kings go deer hunting. Giannis sits to “rest his knee”, leaving his herd in confined space with shooters surrounding them. Khris Middleton agrees to a lifetime contract with the Kings, so he’s spared. The rest are venison. Fox scores 30 and tosses 8 assists. Buddy goes of for 6+ threes. Harrison Barnes finally breaks out and scores 22 points.

Kings 131, Bucks 130