Living Up To The Hype: Kings slighty different than advertised in 113-109 win over the Grizzlies

By Morris Phillips

All of a sudden the Sacramento Kings are so good, they…

Don’t need to depend on their prolific scoring to win games. In Tuesday’ 113-109 thriller at the Grindhouse in Memphis, they put up a “mere” 113 points, the lowest point total in any of their ten victories this season. And yes, the defense was present. The formidable Grizzlies were held to 17 points in the decisive, third quarter in which they missed seven of eight 3-point attempts.

“I thought our third quarter defense was really good,” coach Mike Brown said. “Might be our best defensive quarter of the year.”

Don’t need to shoot the lights in order to win. The Kings have made slightly more than half of their shot attempts on the season, but against Memphis they made do with 43 percent shooting, and survived their whopping 30 misses from distance.

Don’t need to command the stat sheet to prevail. The Kings were outrebounded, fouled more and didn’t commit fewer turnovers, but they still pulled it out. To be fair, the numbers between the teams were extremely close in all three areas, but the contention that the Kings don’t have to unveil their best effort to win holds weight.

Don’t need a big finish to get a win… and this one on the road against a quality opponent to boot. This time the Grizzlies, not the Kings, dominated play down the stretch, cutting a 14-point, fourth quarter deficit to three on several possessions inside two minutes remaining. Ja Morant, who led all scorers with 34, missed a 3-pointer with 1:10 left that would have brought the hosts even at 104. Morant’s three-point play with five seconds remaining pulled the Grizzlies within 109-108, but the Kings converted four, subsequent free throws to close it out.

De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 32 points, but Brown pointed to Harrison Barnes and his 26 points as the key to the Kings’ surviving the frantic finish.

“Obviously, we were haywire out there. Going crazy, and Harrison just made some big plays down the stretch,” Brown said.

The Kings have won seven straight for the first time since they did it in 2005, the season of their most recent–but distant–playoff appearance. Kings’ fans with anxiety issues might not want to look at the Western Conference because their long forlorn team occupies the third spot behind the Suns and the equally, surprising Jazz, just percentage points above the fourth-place Clippers.

The Kings were their typical, freewheeling selves in the first half on Tuesday, shooting 51 percent with eight makes from distance to lead 64-59. The third quarter saw the Kings extend their lead to 12, and they led 99-85 with 6:08 left after Barnes hit a three.

Memphis responded with a 5-0 run which set the stage for the tense finish. Morant was terrific after missing the previous game with an ankle injury, scoring 20 of his 34 in the fourth.

The Kings complete a back-to-back on Wednesday in Atlanta where they will confront the 10-7 Hawks.

Kings Can’t Stand The Heat: Miami cruises, snaps Sacramento’s modest win streak

By Morris Phillips

Once the Heat established themselves on Monday, little space remained for the Kings to be who they are, or who they want to be for that matter.

How’s that?

“We got back to being who we are,” Miami’s Jimmy Butler said after he led the Heat to a 123-100 win over the Kings with his 27 points and seven assists. The Heat snapped a four-game slide with the win, and looked like the Eastern Conference leaders they’ve been in the latter stages of this season in the process.

Bam Adebayo also had a big night for Miami with 22 points, 15 rebounds and Tyler Herro added 20 in 29 minutes off the bench.

“Felt amazing to get back in the winning column,” Herro said.

The Kings (27-49) had their moment early, leading 6-0 briefly before the host’s grueling style wore down the visitors and their thinned rotation. Miami scored the next nine points and never looked back. Sacramento managed just 19 points in the first quarter, and they trailed by 12. The deficit grew to 16 at the half, and 25 points after three quarters. Most notably, the Kings improved defensive play took the night off as they surrendered 101 points with eight minutes left in the game.

Davion Mitchell play was once again an eye-opener for the Kings as he led them with 21 points and nine assists in 41 minutes on the floor. Drafted for his high-level, defensive intensity, the rookie continues to show polish in all facets of his performance.

“(It’s hard) playing him 40 minutes every night and guarding the best player,” coach Alvin Gentry said. “But he accepts that and goes out and does the very best he can. I think you can see the improvement, the improvement in his decision-making. The effort has always been there defensively, so we just have to continue to get better.”

Harrison Barnes added 17 points as the Kings played without the quartet of Domantas Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox, Terence Davis and Richaun Holmes for the fourth straight game. The Kings squandered an opportunity to win a third, consecutive road game and have lost 13 of 18.

The Kings conclude a five-game road swing with games at Houston on Wednesday and Friday. According to the Sacramento Bee’s Jason Anderson, an improbable 6-0 finish to the season–all against Western Conference opponents–could net the Kings the needed tie breakers to nab the 10th spot in the Western Conference. Possible, but highly unlikely as the Kings have yet to win four in a row this season.

The visit concluded Sacramento’s schedule against Eastern Conference teams. They finished 10-20 against the East, a major reason they likely will miss the playoffs for a 16th straight season.

Harrison’s Hot Hand: Barnes, Kings offense come alive in 4th quarter of 119-105 win over the Wizards

By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO–Say you’re not LeBron, Steph or KD. But you’re not chopped liver either, a dude with a nice deal and a niche in the vast pantheon of the NBA. If that’s your bag, then Wednesday was your night, and Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center your place.

With defense seemingly optional, shot blockers and defenders nowhere to be found, the Kings got their fit in the fourth quarter with Harrison Barnes scoring 15 of his 19 points, leading to a 119-105 home win over the Wizards.

The Kings snapped a three-game losing streak and moved ahead of the stumbling Trail Blazers in the dense Western Conference playoff hunt. Meanwhile, the Wizards have dropped six of seven, including all three on their current Western road swing.

Of course, neither coach wanted a loss here. With their season tenuous, twice interim coach Doug Christie was intent on starting in the win column, and Washington’s Wes Unseld Jr. was desperate to avoid falling within a game of .500 after an impressive 10-3 start to the season.

The harsh circumstances certainly impacted 46-year old Unseld’s thoughts. But the 51-year old Christie’s as well.

“The competitive spirit always isn’t there. The collective mind-set isn’t always there. Our care factor isn’t always there. That’s my frustration,” said Unseld, no doubt pointing to a finishing stretch Wednesday that saw Wizards score just 16 of the game’s final 58 points after leading by 12 late in the third quarter.

“For us to come back and fight the way we did … if it was easy everybody would do it, but it’s not,” Christie opined.

The day began with the news that Alvin Gentry, William Bagley Jr. and Terence Davis had entered COVID protocols and weren’t available. That elevated the 51-year old Christie into his first head coaching assignment less than a year after he resigned from his role as the team’s broadcast color voice. It also thrust Chimezie Metu, Alex Len and Moe Harkless into significant roles against the Wizards.

The Kings maintained their approach of putting their most credible defenders on the floor, and Christie was the visual reminder, given his status as one the NBA’s best defenders at his peak in 2000 through 2005. But these Kings aren’t a one-game fix. They allowed the Wizards’ three-point looks, and a one-point halftime lead which they expanded with a 32-point third quarter.

Luckily, the Kings did better with shot selection and just attacking. They also dramatically reduced their turnovers after the break. For one night, sticky defense got trumped by being persistent and getting to the basket.

De’Aaron Fox best personified Christie’s wishes by eschewing deep balls and attacking the basket on his way to a 28-point night. Davion Mitchell added 13, which justified Christie playing him 29 minutes and getting his resistance defensively.

Barnes followed and he absorbed some contact in delivering some big points down the stretch. His made free throws put the Kings up 109-98 with 3:24 remaining.

Better opponents loom immediately with Memphis up twice and a visit to San Francisco in the Kings’ next five games. So which path will they follow?

Who knows. Tyrese Haliburton couldn’t supply anymore wisdom in simply saying, “the only consistent thing we’ve done is be inconsistent.”

Jazz Interpretation: Utah wins a close one at home, beats the Kings 119-113

By Morris Phillips

If you’re the Sacramento Kings, now 15 seasons removed from a playoff appearance, a trip to Utah to face the Jazz, the reigning champions of the regular season, turned out to be a good place to start if postseason play is still the goal.

While the Kings fell short, and dropped to 3-4 on the season, they played well enough to disrupt a Jazz team that’s now won 58 of their previous 79 regular season games, easily the best mark in the NBA dating back to the beginning of the truncated ’19-’20 season.

The Kings came up empty in the game’s final five minutes, losing a back-and forth contest 119-113 in which neither team held a double-digit lead. The Kings effectively put the Jazz on their heels by limiting their trademark made threes, but ultimately couldn’t respond as the home team dominated the glass, and picked up their defensive intensity down the stretch.

Essentially, a 7-0 run by the Jazz decided it, after the Kings’ Richaun Holmes hit a short jumper to tie the game at 104. After a two-minute scoreless drought, the Kings trailed 111-104 with 2:27 remaining.

A key sequence in the deciding run was a foul on Utah’s Rudy Gobert that was challenged by the Jazz, and overturned upon video review. The ensuing jump ball saw Holmes whistled for a violation, which awarded the ball to the Jazz. Ten seconds later, Donovan Mitchell scored on a driving layup to put the home team up five. After a Holmes miss, Gobert capped the surge by the Jazz with a pair of made free throws.

Mitchell led the Jazz with 36 points, and Mike Conley contributed 30. The dynamic Utah backcourt combined for 25 made baskets including 11 threes. Bogdan Bogdanovich had 20 for Utah.

The Kings were led by Harrison Barnes with 23 points. Buddy Hield was next with 19 points off the bench, but he was hit with two technical fouls and ejected with less than a second remaining.

Davion Mitchell, the rookie, had 18 as seven of the eight Kings to see action scored in double figures. Still the initial NBA meeting of the D. Mitchells went to the veteran.

“He hit shots. He hit tough shots. You can’t really do anything about that,” said Davion Mitchell of Donovan Mitchell.

The Jazz enjoyed a 58-39 advantage on the glass. That disparity helped off set an unusually poor shooting night from distance for Utah, in which they missed 34 3-point attempts.

“I love the fight of our team,” Kings coach Bill Walton said. “It’s really fun coaching these guys. We’re learning these hard lessons. I hope we figure it out soon, but the details of the game is what’s costing us right now. Tonight, it was defensive rebounding.”

The Kings return home on Wednesday to face the New Orleans Pelicans, the start of a four-game home stand.

Levels To This Game: Kings still aren’t where the Warriors are now, lose 119-107

By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO–At Golden 1 Center on Sunday night, the storylines didn’t budge much.

The Kings remain enamored with the Warriors’ style, the small lineups, relentless pace, 3-ball hunting and daring panache.

But the Kings haven’t quite poached their neighbor’s game to the extent needed to prevail.

That, and the Warriors still have Steph, Draymond along with emerging depth.

Golden State broke open a tight game with a 7-2 run to end the third quarter, then pulled away in the fourth, grabbing a 119-107 win over the Kings to stay undefeated.

After dropping their second home game to begin the season, the Kings are 1-2.

“We need to be better in the fourth quarter,” Kings’ coach Luke Walton said. “Part of the problem is we’re slowing the pace down. We have to get out and go.”

“We have to finish games,” said Davion Mitchell, who scored a career-best 22 points. “Throughout the game we have leads, (then) they go on their run and we have a lot of turnovers.”

The Kings were competitive for the first three quarters. Mitchell had 19 of his 22 during that stretch, and Harrison Barnes all of his 24 points, but they unraveled in the fourth, while committing 19 turnovers over the course of the game. Barnes was limited to one miss and three rebounds when he returned with 7:06 remaining, and the Kings trailing 102-98.

Stephen Curry (27 points, and his 500th career assist) and Jordan Poole (20 points) paced the Warriors’ attack, which put six players in double figures.

The Kings got 17 points from De’Aaron Fox, and 16 points and 11 rebounds from Richaun Holmes. Buddy Hield was limited to six points, missing nine of his 11 shots in 25 minutes on the floor.

The Kings matched the Warriors in assists (26 each), made more threes (15-13 edge), and they even mimicked their reduced-sized lineups, but the Warriors were just sharper. The visitors created more high-percentage shot attempts, and backed it up with 20 of 24 made free throws, they set more effective screens, and enjoyed a 12-0 edge in steals.

Draymond Green had a hand in all those areas, as did Otto Porter Jr. Green finished with 14 points, six rebounds, six assists, and Porter had five points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block in 24 minutes off the bench.

“We were rock solid with the ball,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We had multiple guys come in off the bench and play well.”

The Kings didn’t have anyone in their nine-man rotation struggle other than Hield with his shooting, but the playmaking from their guard quartet of Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Hield and Mitchell was a mixed bag. The four tallied 22 assists, but committed 13 turnovers and the Kings were held to 19 points in the fourth.

Also, Walton wasn’t pleased that Warriors’ reserves ruled the first half of the fourth, and his team did little to stop it.

“You can’t do that, you can’t give Steph Curry and Draymond Green a six-point lead when they come back in the game. It just can’t happen,” Walton said. “We talked about it as a staff, as a team, really. But it’s one thing to talk about. It’s another thing to go out there and do it.”

Nemanja Bjelica, the former King, had the least effective game of his three thus far for the Warriors, missing all five of his shots in 10 minutes of action.

Sacramento opens a four-game road trip in Phoenix against the Suns on Wednesday night.

Kings open pre season with 117-106 win over Suns; Barnes leads with 18 points

The Sacramento Kings forward Marvin Bagley (35) and Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton (22) scramble for the ball during pre season home opener for the Kings at the Chase Center in Sacramento on Mon Oct 4, 2021 (USA Today photo)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings were back in action at the Golden One Center on Monday night. It was the first preseason game for the Kings since last season. A lot had taken place since the Kings last took the court.

The Kings drafted elite defender Davion Mitchell to try and jumpstart a defense that is way behind NBA level. The Kings main focus in training camp this year was defense. With the likes of De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Halliburton, Harrison Barnes, and Buddy Hield the Kings should be able to score plenty of points.

The issue has been defense and that’s what the Kings were looking to address. The Kings would take on the Phoenix Suns on Monday night at 7 PM PST.

The Suns came into Sacramento as the defending Western conference champions. Of course, since it is preseason the Suns wouldn’t have all their starters on the court. However, all the Kings starters did play. The Kings came away with a pre season home opener victory over the Suns 117-106.

In the first half, Harrison Barnes shined for the Kings. The first quarter saw the Kings outscore the Suns 30-23 as the Kings offense got off to a hot start. In the second quarter, it was more of the same.

The Kings offense put up 31 points compared to the Suns 24 as the Kings would pull out in front to a commanding 61-47 halftime lead. In the first half, the Kings got a great performance from the aforementioned Harrison Barnes who scored 16 points.

Barnes hit 4-6 threes in an impressive half for the Kings playing 16:20 minutes. The Suns were led in the first half by Landry Shamet who scored ten points. The Kings would hope to finish off a solid game to start the preseason but would need to avoid a second-half hangover in order to do so.

In the second half, the Kings continued to play solid basketball. The third quarter saw the Kings score 29 points compared to the Suns 24 points. The Kings had outscored the Suns in each of the first three quarters as the Kings regulars continued to get minutes.

The Kings would take a 90-71 lead into the fourth quarter as they looked to seal the deal. In the fourth quarter, the Kings were outscored by the Suns 35-27 but the Kings still won the game 117-106. The Kings were led in victory by Harrison Barens (18 points), Marvin Bagley (15 points), and Buddy Hield who added 14 points. In defeat, the Suns were led by Landry Shamet who scored 13 points.

Up Next: The Kings will take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. The tip is scheduled for 7:30 PM PST.

The Kings make it rain in Portland to get a big 123-111 win on Saturday night

Photo: Richaun Holmes returned to the Kings lineup on Saturday night @NBCS

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Where were you on December 8, 2012? The Sacramento Kings were in Portland and that was the last time they won a basketball game in “Rip City” until Saturday night. After suffering 12 consecutive losses over seven-plus years in Portland, the Sacramento Kings broke the curse and beat the Trail Blazers on their homecourt 123-111.

Playoff implications

The Trail Blazers (28-37) and Kings (28-35) are both fighting to jump into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. That slot is currently held by the Memphis Grizzlies who have not been able to distance themselves from the Kings, Trail Blazers, Pelicans, Spurs and even the Suns who have a real chance to qualify for the playoffs.

This was the final meeting of the season between the Kings and the Blazers. The teams split the series 2-2.

The Kings started fast

The Kings started the game like a “Top Fuel” dragster. Harrison Barnes led the way scoring 11 points in the first quarter that saw Sacramento outscore Portland 40-24.

The Kings shot 55.2-percent (16-for-29) overall in the period and went 5-for-9 (55.6%) from behind the 3-point line. They dished out 11 assists in the first 12 minutes while making five steals. SAC was simply overwhelming.

The train kept rolling in the second quarter

The Kings did not cool off in the second period. Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic decided it was time “to make it rain” 3-pointers. The two shooting guards combined to hit 7-of-8 shots from downtown. As a team, Sacramento shot 9-for-12 (75%) from behind the arc.

The Kings outscored the Blazers 37-30 in the quarter.

Hield put up 14 points while Bogdanovic added 11.

At halftime, Sacramento held a 77-54 lead over Portland.

The Trail Blazers did just roll over and quit

When you have CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard on your team, you are never out of contention as long as there is time on the clock. Portland did not get hot, but they did play better than the Kings in the third quarter.

Sacramento cooled off in the third stanza as might have been expected. They shot 6-for-21 (28.6%) from the field; however, five of those baskets came from 3-point land.

Portland won the quarter 26-23, but the Kings still held a 100-80 lead after 36 minutes of play.

Wave the white flag

The Kings opened the final quarter by going on an 8-2 run that broke the Trail Blazers back. Portland tried to get back into the game, but it was too late.

Terry Stotts emptied his bench and the reserves played with vigor, but it was a futile effort.

The Kings won the game 123-111.

Top Performers

Leading scorers

• Bogdan Bogdanovic was the game’s leading scorer with 27 points
• Hassan Whiteside and CJ McCollum led the Blazers with 19 points each

Glass cleaners

• Whiteside was the top rebounder with 11 grabs to give him a double-double
• Richaun Holmes – who supplied some much-needed energy to the Kings – hauled in eight rebounds

Dropping dimes

• De’Aaron Fox made it a double-double game by dishing out 11 assists in the contest
• Lillard and McCollum led Portland with six assists each

Up next

The Kings jumped on their plane and flew back to Sacramento where they will host the defending NBA Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.

Portland will be off until Tuesday when they will host the Phoenix Suns.

 

 

 

Kings Engaged: Season may be slipping away, but 129-125 win over the Grizzlies sends the right messages

By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO–The Kings might not be in position to catch the Grizzlies for the coveted, franchise-changing eighth spot in the Western Conference playoffs.

Along similar lines–and relevant to Thursday night’s post-All Star intro–rookie of the year candidate Ja Morant might not be ready to surpass Kings’ third-year guard De’Aaron Fox either.

The head-to-head matchup of future All-Star point guards went to decisively to Fox, who put up 26 points, four assists in leading the Kings to a 129-125 win over Memphis that turned into a nail biter in the final minutes. The reason for the late rush and the close finish? Morant had his hands on that with 15 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, but ultimately Fox’s defense and Morant’s turnovers (5) swung the outcome for Sacramento.

“Every game is a must-win and (we) have to play each game like our back is against the wall if we want to make things interesting, and we can,” Buddy Hield said.

The win pulled the Kings within six games of Memphis with 27 contests remaining in the regular season. Complicating matters, and increasing the odds of a Kings’ resurgence is the presence of the Blazers, Spurs and Pelicans with records slightly better than the Kings. But when you’ve missed the playoffs for 14 years and running, you scratch and claw until your time runs out.

The Kings overcame a huge, size disparity against the Grizzlies with superior shooting and fewer mistakes. Sacramento was outrebounded 51-27 as they again were without Marvin Bagley and Richaun Holmes, as well as Dewayne Dedmon, who was traded to Atlanta. Harrison Barnes aided in the process with 32 points, including seven made 3-pointers, as well as Kent Bazemore, who contributed 18 points, but only needed 10 shots to get there.

With Barnes and Bazemore giving the Kings an early advantage, their defensive strategy to fall back into the paint and challenge Memphis’ shooters to make shots played out perfectly as starting guards Morant and Dillon Brooks missed all seven of their shots from distance, allowing the Kings to grab a 37-35 advantage after one quarter, which they built on by scoring the first nine points of the second.

But in a game of runs and swings, the Grizzlies got back into behind reserve guards De’Anthony Melton (24 points), Tyus Jones and Josh Jackson. Hield spearheaded Sacramento’s bench with 20 points, but the Kings were hampered by Jabari Parker’s debut, in which he appeared out of shape, no doubt a product of the former Duke player having played in just one game since Christmas.

The Kings are expected to give Parker and Alex Len–players acquired in the deadline deals–a look, but won’t hesitate to move on from either player. Len was unavailable Thursday, but could play as early as Saturday in Los Angeles against the Clippers.

Doncic and Prozingis lead the Mavs to a 130-111 win over the Kings in “Big D”

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings wanted to close out their short two-game road trip on a high note by handing the Dallas Mavericks (33-22) a loss on their homecourt heading into the All-Star Break. The Kings (21-33) knew they would have a big task on their hands because All-Starter Luka Doncic was going to make his return to the lineup after missing the previous seven games due to an ankle injury.

The Doncic Factor

For the rest of his career, Luka Doncic will always be tied to the Sacramento Kings in a bad way. Almost everyone associated with the NBA expected the Kings to draft Doncic because of his Euro pedigree and the Euro leanings of the Sacramento front office. When that did not happen, most experts and analysts were shocked. Now that Doncic is on the verge of becoming a real superstar, the decision to pass Doncic in the draft has become magnified.

Every Doncic success will be viewed as a Sacramento failure because they could have drafted Luka with their number two pick in 2018. Doncic will start the All-Star game on Sunday and he could have done that as a Sacramento King.

On Tuesday night, Doncic was the leading scorer in the game putting up 33 points to go along with 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Some will say that Doncic will always be in the mood to punish the Kings. Do not believe that rubbish. Doncic does not care about the Kings. He is very happy playing for billionaire Mark Cuban in Dallas who will spend whatever is necessary to put the players around him to win an NBA Championship.

Lack of defense

The Kings allowed the Mavericks to score at least 30 points in all four quarters of the game on Wednesday night. They allowed Dallas to shoot 56.5% from the field in the game. The Mavs hit 17 of 40 (42.5%) of their 3-point attempts.

A team like Dallas cannot be defeated when their opponent fails to show up on defense.

Top Scorers

• Doncic was the game’s leading scorer while Kristaps Prozingis also had a double-double game with 27 points and 13 rebounds plus he added five assists
• Buddy Hield was the Kings leading scorer coming off the bench to put up 22 points to go along with nine assists

The Glass Cleaners

• Prozingis was the game’s leading rebounder with 13
• Hield, Barnes and Bjelica all pulled down seven rebounds each for SAC

Dropping Dimes

• Buddy Hield was the game’s assists leader with his nine dimes
• Luca Doncic led Dallas with eight

Up next

The Kings will return to play on Thursday, February 20 when they will host the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Mavericks will return to action on February 21 in Orlando.

The Kings run out of gas in the fourth quarter and lose in Milwaukee 123-111

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Kings entered the game on Monday night in Milwaukee with high hopes. The Bucks superstar – Giannis Antetokounmpo – was ruled out the game because he wanted to be with his new-born son (who we all expect to be the number one overall draft selection in 2038). Without “the freak” on the floor, the Kings knew they had at least a fighting chance versus the powerful Bucks.

The Kings (21-32) fell behind early, and it looked like it might be a walkover game for Milwaukee (46-7) even without Giannis. At the end of the first quarter, the Bucks held 38-24 lead.

Sacramento rebounded in the second quarter. The Kings outscored the Bucks 34-19 in the second period behind the 13 point barrage by Harrison Barnes. Barnes went 4-for-4 from the floor with all three of his 3-point attempts finding their mark. He also converted both of his free throw attempts. The Kings went to the locker room at halftime with a 58-57 lead.

The two teams went into an epic battle in the third quarter and went toe to toe. The Kings outscored the Bucks 32-31 in the quarter and held a 90-88 advantage at the end of 36 minutes.

The Bucks started the final quarter with a 13-0 run and never looked back. Milwaukee went on to outscore the Kings 35-21 in the fourth quarter as they fell 12 points short when the final buzzer sounded.

Top scorers

• Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe were the leading scorers in the game scoring 28 points each
• Harrison Barnes was the Kings top scorer with 23 points

The Glass Cleaners

• Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton made it a double-double game by pulling down 11 rebounds
• De’Aaron Fox and Nemanja Bjelica grabbed eight rebounds each for the Kings

Dropping Dimes

• De’Aaron Fox was the game’s assist leader with 11 which gave him a double-double game
• Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe dropped eight dimes each for the Bucks

Up next

The Kings will be back in action on Wednesday night in Dallas.

The Bucks will travel to Indianapolis to play the Pacers on Wednesday night.