Kings 108, Bucks 114
Sacramento continued their 7 game homestand against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks came into tonight’s matchup without star point guard Damian Lillard due to a calf injury while the Kings were missing Malik Monk due to illness. Both teams have had fairly similar seasons in the sense that both sides have underachieved record-wise thus far, so a win would be a nice boost for both squads going forward.
With Monk out for Sacramento, Keon Ellis slotted into the starting lineup and he fit just like a glove, yet again. Ellis had an outstanding first half with 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. His efficiency was impressive, knocking down 5 of his 7 shots, including 3 of 4 three pointers. Ellis accounted for 3 out of the 4 threes that the Kings had in the half. Besides the counting stats, his activity on the defensive end was impossible to ignore. Ellis swarmed all over the court contesting shots with good closeouts, swiping at the ball, helping double Giannis effectively and just doing everything he could to frustrate Milwaukee.
The Kings poor shooting in the first two quarters (4 of 20 from three) surprisingly didn’t hurt them too much. The Bucks didn’t shoot much better hitting at just a 26.7% clip from deep (4/15), which was a big reason as to why Sacramento was able to have the lead they had. It also helped the Kings that Giannis Antetokounmpo failed to play to his typical standards as he only went for 9 points in the half. Brook Lopez shouldered the load in Lillard’s absence and Giannis’ relative struggles during that timespan. Lopez posted 21 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal, most of which came from the first half.
Giannis was notably more aggressive in the third quarter. After only scoring 9 points in the first two quarters, the Greek Freak had 29 points in the third period alone. The Kings had no answer for him on his patented drives to the basket. If he wasn’t willing his way to the paint, he was hitting midrange jumpers.
Lopez, Taurean Prince and Kyle Kuzma each knocked down a triple in the quarter to give Giannis some help. Sacramento, on the other hand, failed to improve upon their poor shooting from the first half. The good shooting from the Bucks coupled with Giannis returning to form saw Milwaukee tie things up with a little over three minutes left in the quarter. Conversely, Sacramento started to get their offense going, just enough to take a negligible 89-86 lead into the final quarter.
The lead did not last very long for the Kings. Milwaukee went ahead at the 7 minute mark, re-gaining the lead for the first time since they led 2-0 at the start of the game. The Bucks started the quarter off 5/7 from three, a marked improvement over their shooting in the first three quarters. Milwaukee never really looked back from that point on as the Kings struggled to keep up offensively for the rest of the game.
The Kings best player in the first half, Ellis, failed to make an appearance for the Kings for the last half of the quarter or so. It’s unclear if the Ellis had an injury of some sort, or if this was a weird tactical decision from Doug Christie. Regardless, his presence was clearly missed down the stretch.
LaVine had a more aggressive shooting night today on paper, but he was inefficient and ineffective. He shot 7/17 from the field and 1/5 from three. He ghosted crunch time and did nothing of note when the game was on the line. A lot more will be needed from LaVine if the Kings have any hope of making it to the Playoffs this season.
As the losses continue to pile up for Sacramento, the chance of slipping from the 9 seed continues to rise. Phoenix is on a three game winning streak and the Kings are now just 1.5 games ahead of them in the standings. What seemed like an undoable task now is much more realistic for the Suns. They can grab the 9 seed if they continue to stay hot. Next up on the schedule for Sacramento – Boston on Monday night.
Kings Scribe 
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