Update: 8:45 p.m.
The Sacramento Kings dropped its fifth game in a row Sunday 115-98 to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks won the second quarter 34-18 and their largest lead was 26. The Kings made a run in the second half, cutting it to a three-point game, but ultimately, the Bucks had too many answers down the stretch.
Sacramento shot 20% from three and lost rebounds by 10. Keegan Murray left the game in the second half with a left ankle injury. This season is just brutal.
Zach LaVine returned and scored 20 points off the bench in 36 minutes. Russel Westbrook scored 21 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 37 points for Milwaukee.
Sacramento is tied with the New Orleans Pelicans at the bottom of the Western Conference with only 8 wins. The tank rolls on.
From Earlier Preview:
After another brutal outing in Phoenix, the Kings’ season continues at home vs. the Bucks tonight.
Who: Sacramento Kings (8-27) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (15-20)
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
When: 6:00 PM PT / 9:00 PM ET
Watch: NBCSCA / League Pass
The only positive thing I’ll say coming out of the Suns loss on Friday is that Keegan Murray had one of his better games of the season, dropping 23 points and 9 rebounds on 9-17 shooting from the field, and 3-5 shooting from beyond the arc. And hopefully it’s the beginning of a nice efficient stretch of basketball for him, because it’s been a rough year.
Milwaukee hasn’t been a very good basketball team this year, but so long as Giannis is healthy, they’re significantly better than this version of the Kings. Giannis is probable for tonight with a right calf injury. The Kings are still missing Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and Dylan Cardwell.
Prediction: Kings 119, Bucks 109
LaVine returns to active status for this one. He scored 31 on 17 shots that last time the Kings faced the Bucks. Feed him the ball Doug. Have him take 20+ shots in the first half and cross your fingers he hits a hot streak.
Then trade him to the Bucks at halftime while Giannis and Co. are impressed. Make it happen Perry!
Next some teams that we’ve beaten this year;
First the Bucks who we’ll face right here.
We’re not likely to trade
For the Freak, I’m afraid.
So let Vivek hear everyone jeer!
+1 More than 24 hrs since TKH site glitched!
Dear Fans,
We like our chances against these Bucks of Milwaukee tonight. Apparently, we also played the Suns of Phoenix the other night, but we were a bit hungover from the new years festivities and our cousin who usually keeps an eye on the social media sites to inform us when there is a game was passed out for about 4 days. Needless to say, we are back in the C-suite and will be court-side tonight for this beatdown of the deer. In fact, we may bring out a live buck and blast it with a rifle from across the court just to show how dominant we can be.
Tonight, look for some creativity in our lineups, as we continue to determine just what pieces we have. Never mind that we told you at the beginning of the season that this was a roster who could compete. We will show our excellent defense we have been working on, and there may even be a few “traps” we set for the deer.
Please do not approach our management team if you see us on the court. Something you casual fans don’t understand is how cool we look giving high fives to the all-star players and making small talk with their entourages. Having random Joe in the back of Shaka pictures ruins it.
Sincerely,
Management
The scary thing is that if there had been no major injuries this year the Kings would probably still be close to the 10th seed or have it right now, the basketball Gods have spared us thus far.
I hear recently the Kings have a guard that’s been tearing it up in G league, forgot his name but stats looked good. Would much rather be watching him than Westbrook or these other guys.
Actually the Kings won the G League title last year, so we clearly have players we could be developing. Would love a TKH article on who we could be developing and how we squander our G league talent. I’d be all for us poaching G league talent from all over, watching Mac McClung dunks and sky hooks on the Kings.
Sucks to have to come on here and be so negative all the time but this 4-game losing streak is a winning streak in my book. Keep it Kangzy y’all!
62-44 at the half. Not inspiring
At the half:
Lavine -14
Westbrook -13
Derozan -13
No one has a positive +/- and those three are the only ones in the double digits for +/- so far. No surprises there!
Was gonna sit down to watch the last quarter and half or so to watch the train wreck. Looks like I may have missed it.
Gaining ground on the Pels for worse record in the West. To overtake the bottom spot would be the pièce de résistance this season; and should speak volumes about this front office.
I guess Vivek/Perry will use all the injuries as an excuse to not fire Doug?
Somebidy here must have been at the game.
How many empty seats ?
Sell the team chant. Any? If so how long and loud.
I was at this game.
With 15 minutes prior to tip off, I’d say 60% filled, by 5 minutes into the 1st Quarter, the place filled up to about 80% by my look around estimate. Vivek was a No Show. So, no Sell The Team chants. No signs that I saw.
Thanks. Vivek a no show? That might be progress.
Did Kuzma stay behind?
You know who would take the Bucks to another level? Keegan Murray. I’ve never liked the idea of trading Murray but if the deal is right, and who knows what that entails, it’s something to consider.
Even if there was an amazing offer for Murray, I don’t think he gets moved until next season at the earliest. His contract extension just makes a trade all the more difficult.
To your point, however, I agree. Murray would take more than the Buck to the next level. Imagine him on the Dubs or Nuggets.
We could trade for Myles Turner so we could reunite him with Sabonis…lol
I hope Keegan and Keon are alright.
Zach looked fantastic!!! Almost no rust. Especially on defense, it felt like he was in mindseason.
I’m sure someone is willing to pay for him.
I did get a chuckle that after he’s missed the last 9 games with a sore ankle, he returned to play the one and only team that is rumored to have interest in him. We went from listed as out, to questionable, to available all within 24 hours. It was almost as if Perry was saying, “See! He’s fine! We are keeping him fresh for you! Now send Vivek Kuzma!”
That was ugly. Next.
If the lottery were held today, the Kings would land somewhere between 1-7. 40% of landing in the top 3. My draft list will be very fluid over the next several months, but as of today…
I should add that I am woefully behind in bird dogging the international players, and I would love to hear from our other draft hawks, as this list is definitely written in pencil, not pen.
A tradition like no other…
no, no, not The Masters… it’s draft lottery players, odds and the like, every January excepting the last couple.
It’s more interesting that talking about this team. Took a friend to the game last night and he called it “a team of mercenaries, past their prime, with no association to the team other than their paychecks” which I found a painfully accurate description.
Where’s Giannis off to? Spurs seem like a good and scary place, but for some reason, not a popular guess. Warriors? Boston? Miami?
Your Sacramento Kings: Mercs and jerks with no perks that just don’t work. As fans, we’re ferked.
Nice breakdown, Rob.
I’m sold on Peterson. I think he’s a franchise cornerstone. It’s crazy to hear the Jordan and Kobe comps (Wiggins was the same), but I don think he’s going to be a generational talent.
I have AJ as my #2 at the moment, only because I have my doubts about Boozer. I can’t get it out of my head that he reminds me of Bagley, but with better passing. I have some serious concerns about his defense and foot speed. I want a sure fire two way player in the mold of Kawhi, and I think AJ fits that mold better.
All I know is that this seems to be a three player draft with the top 8 all looking really good. The Kings really need to land a top 3 pick.
Can we talk about who we wanna draft? I’m hoping for AJ Dybansta if we get a top two or three pick. The other would be Caleb Wilson and a lot of people love boozer and I think he’s solid, but there’s something about him. I would love it if we could pick up another pic on the top 10 to 15 and hope.Neoklis Avdalas is still available. I think he will be a better taller Josh Giddey.. if not if we’re in the 16 to 20 round range with that pic I would like Karim Lopez from New Zealand
of course, thunder have two Picks that are currently in the lottery and they’ll probably end up moving up and taking all the good players
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