Milwaukee Bucks vs. Sacramento Kings Preview: Bucks Continue West Coast Swing

After dropping the first game of their road trip to the San Antonio Spurs, the Milwaukee Bucks bounced back to earn a 107-98 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. Tonight, they face-off against the Sacramento Kings for the first time this season.

Bucks Update

The 107-98 victory over the Warriors was not pretty, which might be the understatement of 2020. However, a win is a win!

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with 30 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists. The Warriors made him work for every single one of those 30 points. Khris Middleton contributed 21 points, seven rebounds, and six assists while helping Milwaukee jump out to a double-digit lead with an impressive third quarter performance.

While the Bucks managed to hit only 40.2% of their shots and nine three-pointers, their defense suffocated Golden State and held them to 98 points on 37.9% from the floor.

While the Kings stand at 15-23, I’m sure they would love nothing more than to derail the Bucks, who with a win, can clinch their best record through 40 games in franchise history.

Is #BucksAfterDark a thing yet?

It will be interesting to see if George Hill will suit up against his former employer after sitting out last game with an illness. As of now, the team has yet to release an injury report for tonight, so make sure to keep your eye on that Twitter feed!

Player To Watch: Eric Bledsoe

His last two games have been a roller coaster offensively, but tonight will offer him an excellent spot to bounce back in what should be a high scoring affair for the Bucks. Against these Kings last season, Bledsoe dropped an impressive triple-double while also putting Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox in a straitjacket.

Kings Update

Losers of nine of their last 12 games, the Kings are still, well, the Kings. I genuinely feel bad for this franchise that just can’t seem to find any sort of positives after getting hosed out of defeating the Lakers in the 2002 Western Conference playoffs.

They constantly find themselves in the NBA draft lottery, but have struck out on the majority of their draft picks, except for De’Aaron Fox who has molded into a nice player. While I do feel for the Kings, it’s hard to have sympathy when their whole basketball ownership and front office group continue to prove their incompetence (like by hiring Luke Walton!).

Anyways, Sacramento took care of the Phoenix Suns the pther night after trailing by as many as 21 points. Fox led the way with 27 points, four rebounds, and six assists while Nemanja Bjelica chipped in with 19. They also got a huge boost from veteran Trevor Arizona who came off the bench to drop 15 points while finishing plus-32.

Marvin Bagley III, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Richaun Holmes are all out for tonight’s tilt against the Bucks.

Player To Watch: Buddy Hield

Buddy can either shoot 5-of-20 tonight, or go supernova and hit 8-of-10 three-pointers. Milwaukee’s defense from beyond the arch has struggled the last few games and I look for Hield to try and take advantage any chance he gets. He did scorch the Bucks to the tune of 32 points last season in their only visit to Sacramento.