After taking care of business at home, the Kings began their six-game road trip by flying to the blistery landscape of Milwaukee, awkwardly known as Cream City, to face the Bucks. I can probably count on one finger how many other teams it would suck more to start an east coast road trip against. Riding on the highs of a dominant start, the celebration of his 28th birthday yesterday, and the fact that he is a freak of nature, Giannis Antetokounmpo is as terrifying and equally lovable as they come. Pair that with the recent return of Khris Middleton, and the Kings entered tonight’s matchup with a daunting task ahead of them. Let’s see how they did:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings lose, 113-126
Sacramento Kings: 113 pts, 47.3% fg, 31.6% 3 pt, 93.8% ft, 19 ast, 40 reb, 8 to
Milwaukee Bucks: 126 pts, 47.9% fg, 42.4% 3 pt, 83.3% ft, 34 ast, 50 reb, 7 to
The Kings really lost this one in the final five minutes after going toe to toe with one of the best squads in the league. Jrue Holiday flirted with a season-high by leading the Bucks with 31 points. And, of course, Giannis Antetokounmpo shot a season-high 90% (9-10) from the free throw line. Add in a final team contribution of 42.4% (20-24) from the 3-point line, and the Bucks made it nearly impossible for the Kings to beat them tonight.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good
- Finding a Way to Not Go Away: Overall, the Bucks felt like the better team throughout this whole game. They were always a little bit bigger, had a little bit more talent, and executed a little bit sharper than the Kings. And yet, the Kings were right there with them for 43 minutes. Each time the Bucks executed a perfect offensive sequence, the Kings answered back with some creative shotmaking of their own. The Kings got double digit production from all five starters and a strong first half performance from Malik Monk off the bench, who finished with 16 points. Kevin Huerter found some much needed rhythm from distance as he shot 3-6 from 3 and had 13 points. De’Aaron Fox and Keegan Murray both contributed 15 points each, while Domantas Sabonis led the way with 23 points and 12 rebounds. For most of the game, it felt like two efficiently creative offenses trading baskets, and the Kings appeared right where they should be, competing with one of the best teams in the league.
- Aggressive Black Falcon: Harrison Barnes set an aggressive tone for his team tonight, as he finished with 20 points and going 6-7 from the line. It was encouraging to see him attack the basket fearlessly, especially with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez waiting for him in the paint. This confidence and fearlessness seemed contagious, as we saw his teammates display the same lack of hesitation in facing this talented Milwaukee team. De’Aaron Fox had two acrobatic and one finishes over Antetokounmpo, and Keegan Murray even let out the slightest of emotional yells on a slam dunk in the 3rd quarter.
The Bad
- Late Game Exposure: In the final five minutes, the separation between where the Bucks currently are and where the Kings currently are revealed itself. Giannis Antetokounmpo, appropriately nicknamed the Greek Freak, did some freaky stuff with this freaky frame and basically decided to just run the ball into the basket a few times. When the Kings tried to adjust to his willful takeover and scrambled to defend with some extra coverage, the Bucks executed offense that got them open looks and then used their size to snag long rebounds for extra opportunities. On the other end, the Kings struggled to get the easy looks they had relied upon earlier in the game, as the Bucks turned their defense up a notch, and then failed to hit the looks they did get. Ultimately, the better team prevailed.
The Ugly
- Being Small: The ugliest stat of the night comes in the rebounding discrepancy, as the Bucks bested the Kings 50-40 overall, and 17-8 in offensive rebounds. In their attempts to provide extra coverage on Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Kings often got scrambled on defense and were out of shape to properly box out once shots went up. It didn’t help that the 7-footer Brook Lopez was often down there for the Bucks, as he grabbed six offensive boards. Though this stat was ugly, it often felt like the lesser of two evils against this team. With Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday posing such lethal threats with the ball in their hands, the Kings had no choice but to give up rebounding position to try to contain them.
The King of Kings
Keegan Murray continued to show a consistent confidence on the court tonight, finishing with 15 points on 6-10 from the field, including 3 made 3-pointers. My favorite part about watching him tonight was how comfortable and unfazed he looked to be playing against the best player in the world. He had a huge defensive stop on Giannis in the 3rd quarter, where he wrapped the ball up on one of his bulldozing drives and held on for dear life until he wrestled it away from him. Shortly after this play, we got to see a demonstrative slam from him on the other end, and I swear I heard a yell come out of him while doing it:
https://twitter.com/sacramentokings/status/1600679183859953664?s=61&t=R4qfrXpS16w_a_MS2Xx0Eg
From the calm, cool, and collected rookie that we love and are used to, it was fun to see him show a little emotion out there.
Operation: MCNAIR – Season 2 Watch
Tonight’s chosen charity is the Sacramento Regional Family Justice Center, which offers a healing environment for victims of domestic violence, abuse, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Donate here and be sure to notify Will via Twitter (@WillofthaPeople) or e-mail (donations@kingsherald.com) so he can keep track of donation totals.
Up Next
Friday, December 9th @ Cleveland Cavaliers – 4:30 P.M. (PT)
Legitimate great team vs. up and coming improving team
Seemed Sabonis , Barnes brought their A games . Needed more from Fox and bench .
Fox is what he has always been. Streaky…ghost….playing through something…..whatever you want to call it this time.
Good thing is that this team can win with the real Fox. Time to stop making Fox out to be anything different than what he has always been. He will be back to scoring in a few games then gone again. It is ok. Not going to change him.
I agree. Fox needs to get over these 15 point games and score at least in the mid 20,s or this year is lost.
I thought Monk was okay but the rest weren’t even there.
Even the Lakers beat the Bucks the other night
You mean the 18-6 Bucks, second-most-favored team to win it all? Pardon me while I try to retrieve my eyeballs after rolling them into the back of my head.
Pretty sure he’s being facetious with that comment.
As much as we all want the Lakers to suck, they still have 2 of the 20 best players in the world when they’re healthy, and a stat sheet stuffer piloting their 2nd unit. If they stay healthy (big if), they’re not going to be an easy matchup for anyone
Scheduled loss – too much Bucks. If Fox is hurt/sick why not just rest him. We need him healthy not hobbling around.
Fox is inconsistent, and its inherent.
***https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwg73mFJ4e8***
1:40
Brown has said on multiple post game conferences nothing out of the ordinary is going on with him
Brown saying that nothing out of the ordinary is going on and Fox saying that he has lingering effects of an illness can both be true.
Fact is that Fox is now having a 7-game streak of lesser games.
I have to trust that player, coaches and medical staff know whether it is better to let him rest or play through it.
When has Fox been a solid 25+ player for more than a month or two?
He is the definition of a streaky player. Is what he is. Not a bad thing.
It could very well be that you’re right. I’m trying to stay optimistic for now and still give it time, but as I said before the season, no more excuses for Fox.
Bro, have we seen inconsistency from Fox for 6 years? Its leopards and spots at this point
Again, I don’t disagree. I have been a harsh Fox critic. But there are a few positives so far that keep me hoping:
Maybe he’ll just show to be the same old Fox who is only great for spurts and mediocre for long stretches, that is very well possible. I think we are less dependent on Fox being great than previously, but his salary still demands from him to be much better than average, to lift the ceiling of this team.
However, the basement for this team has been raised, though. So I am trying to enjoy that (while it lasts, and before it gutters out like a spent purple light beam). YMMV.
Harsh critic of Fox here as well. His effort overall has greatly improved. What really bothered me about Fox was when he quit. He often did that. So far this year he has not quit.
We will see?
Curious has the term “load management” has been used on the Kings past 16 years? 😀 Maybe not this season but if we are consistently good, we can rest key players for playoffs. (insert gif “Playoffs??”)
Agree. I think it is time for Fox to give it his all and the the Kings stop making him out to be a franchise player.
Sabonis is the franchise player and Fox is a streaky point guard that is overall average.
I agree.
Fox is what he is, a fox doesn’t change his spots, neither does an ox.
Many of us, including yourself have been saying this for some time, even during Fox’ hot start this season. Some on this site were annointing him an all star or superstar, whilst others simply said let’s see him play like this for a whole season…which he obvioulsy doesn’t seem capable of.
This team is fun and likely a playoff team, but the cieling isn’t very high when your two best players are not elite. Of course, we suffering King’s fans will take a playoff berth and go from there.
The Bucks are a championship contender. We’re not (yet). To hang around with a team like that until the last five minutes, at their arena, is a decent achievement. I think the final result is indicative of where these two teams currently are.
I like the insertion of “yet” lol.
This team is still very far away from being a contender, maybe make the playoffs once before even considering the words ”contender” and “Kings.”
We’re a lot further along than I expected us to be. I’m thinking under Monte and coach Brown we’ll continue to improve. I can see us contending within 3-4 years if the improvement continues. Or, of course, we can end up Kangzing.
Gallo actually didn’t much like our chances.
Didn’t mind that it was a loss, just wish the Kings had played better that last 6 minutes. 4 point loss feels better than 13.
Truly good teams crush other teams in the last ten minutes.
Give some praise to Davion.
he is flying around, sacrificing his body, diving onto ground for loose ball.
And not settle for 3pts , and drive inside for some tough layup
I still cringe when he shoots from distance, but your right, he’s been developing his game nicely recently
The shot doesn’t look natural or comfortable. It’s robotic like he is still working out the mechanical change from offseason.
We needed more of Davion Malik and Barnes. When you aren’t hitting 3.s then you need to drive to the basket and shoot more free throws. More paint touches at least.
Fox looks off. Lacked burst. Kept driving to the rim and then pulling up for contested 5 footers. Sick, hurt? Not sure. We need him playing better to pull out wins versus really good teams.
He has to be hurt in some form, maybe a small but nagging injury that’s affecting his play?
Good effort from the Kings, they showed that they are consistently way better this year. Bucks are too deep with a lot of big versatile players, their built the way a team should be. Kings don’t have quite as many pieces yet but they showed that if the Bucks had slipped at all they would have been ready to steal the game. Going to be a tough trip, let’s not get too excited over what seed we are right now, it’s a long year and it will go up and down. Still like how we’re playing though.
I think people are making too big of a deal about Fox. He’s playing well and he’s playing team basketball. The biggest difference is that teams are scheming for Fox a lot more and the rest of the team is having to make teams pay. They are doing pretty well at that and it’ll be a pick your poison situation for opposing defenses. There are nights where Fox will need to make defenses pay for not collapsing and there are nights where he will need to defer to other talented scorers.
The Kings are going to struggle against teams that have really long front lines. When they had a front line of Barnes, Sabonis, and Monk out there battling Lopez and Giannis, it was brutal on the boards and really difficult to score or defend inside. We saw the team struggle similarly against a much less talented Orlando squad that has a lot of size as well. Sabonis is strong, but just isn’t long enough. Barnes is an undersized PF at best. And Metu nor Holmes dont bring much size off the bench. I have to think that Brown has to figure out how to use Len and even Queta in situations where the team just needs some length to battle in these situations.
Well, if this will continue it is a big deal.
He has played great for 2/3rd of the games so far and mediocre for 1/3rd. If that will trend towards 50-50 good/bad games that is not good enough for your max contract guy.
Shooting 38% from the field is horrendous. That’s worse than Westbrook.
Yeah he isn’t playing well right now. Why, I don’t know.
I’m not particularly worried about it because the team is playing well. 3 of those 4 losses are to the Suns, Celtics and Bucks. You tell me a few weeks ago that this team goes 3-4 against that 7 game stretch…I gladly take it. Hell include the Grizz game before and they go 4-4 in 8 games with 4 games against top prolly 5-6 teams in NBA? For this team?
I guess one would say the Fox stats and results speak for themselves. I suppose the same for goes for overall team play (which is the main goal).
These are all small samples regardless…which cue someone pointing out Fox inconsistency for 6 years. I get it. Overall the team feels much different and nothing feels fluky. Fox is a large part of the reason why they are here after 23 games and I can’t really imagine anyone being disappointed by the start.
When the time comes that the Kings have been bounced for 2 straight years after winning 45+ games and can’t “get over the hump”, I’ll worry about Fox’s lack of being able to become a top 20 NBA player and a super star. Monte has shown he is reasonably adept at team building thus far.
Until then I’m going to enjoy the ride that nobody has ridden around here for 16 years.
Not really directed at you in particular Rick, just felt like the spot to write.
He ain’t no Marist grad Wiz! He’s just an impostor on stilts in wooden clogs. (Well maybe not the clogs.)
Wow!!
The Bucks had 8 players with at least 5 boards. The Kings had 2, Sabonis and Monk(!). Sabonis grabbed 30% of Kings rebounds. GET THAT MAN SOME HELP ON THE GLASS!
I didn’t see the whole game but it felt like the Bucks got every 50-50 ball last night. You can’t win on the road let alone against a top 5 team being out hustled like that.
Yep. It felt like there were more than five Bucks on the floor. They swarmed to the ball.
I’ve seen it mentioned here, but that no call on Giannis’ charge on MItchell probably did change the one of the game and took the wind out of the Kings sails.
That’s the crazy part about last night. The Kings went into Milwaukee, the Bucks weren’t incredible last night and they were still right there probably until that Giannis no call.
It is what it is. But at the same time, I felt like the Bucks had a smidge more energy than the Kings did…and that’s probably what truly happened last night. A typical road loss for a good team against a great one. It happens. Cleveland….is not Milwaukee.
And I’m fully aware that Cleveland has a better ORtg, DRtg and Net Rtg on the season than Milwaukee. But until last Friday, Middleton had yet to suit up for the Bucks. Giannis sits against the also-rans of the league like SA, OKC and Charlotte. Their overall numbers are a bit deceiving. I don’t think Cleveland’s are as much as Milwaukee is thinking championship and wearing out their stars for no reason won’t get them there. If you ended up adjusting Cleveland and MIlwaukees Net Rtg’s, you’d probably find Milwaukee is slightly better in that department than Cleveland right now. And they should be, honestly.
I almost went back and looked at it on DVR because I remember thinking that the momentum shifted after that. Plus Giannis should have had his 6th or 7th foul on that play…
it is what it is because they ultimately executed better than the Kings at the end of the game
If Portland eventually blows things up, I’d be willing to pay a steep price for Josh Hart. He has the intangibles and rebounding chops that could really help the Kings.
If Portland blows things up we don’t possess the draft assets (due to the ’24 pick being tied up), so you’d be looking at parting with guys like Mitchell or Murray. I don’t think that I would do that for Hart.
If Atlanta loses patience with Collins, and if the Kings get to the point where they think that Murray can at least somewhat replicate what Barnes does for the Kings, the Hawks might be willing to get out of Collins’ contract for the expiring Barnes and T. Davis. I think that Collins would find new life here under Brown and not playing with Trae Young.
It ain’t all bad news in Basketball world. Brittney Griner is now back in U.S. Custody! Welcome home!
Such excellent news!
Looking back over the game last night two memories pop up. The first was a rumbling Gianis
sending 4 Kings guards flying and the second is Fox trying to box out either Gianis or Brook Lopez at the dunk spot. It was that Kinda night.
Fox has been playing with a bruised foot:
https://www.sacbee.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/article269764542.html
So bruised foot, minor thumb injury and recent illness. Shake it off just use this:
Seriously though I guess we have to trust we have competent medical staff
Is a bruised foot worse than last year’s “ankle issue”?
We need his Bruce foot and Bruce ankle
“With the 23rd pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, the Sacramento Kings select Mo Tussin, Johns Hopkins University.”
That’s probably why he isn’t going at full speed like he normallly does. He not pushing the ball as much and it’s affecting his shot too
Listed as questionable today. Hope he gets a few days rest.
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