The Milwaukee Bucks went 4-2 on their West coast trip with a win in Sacramento.
With an important win on Wednesday in Sacramento, the Milwaukee Bucks moved into sixth place out East. As things really heat up in playoff races around the league, that leaves the Bucks just one game behind the Atlanta Hawks, their opponent on Friday, for the fifth spot.
The first Milwaukee bucket of the game was a Thon Maker turnaround short hook. The Kings got off to a good start, taking a 12-8 lead behind an aggressive Buddy Hield and Willie Cauley-Stein. Giannis Antetokounmpo then took over and helped Milwaukee jump ahead for a 19-16 lead with three minutes to play in the quarter. The Greek Freak tallied 10 points on 5-6 shooting and two assists in the first quarter alone.
The Kings took back some momentum to end the quarter, but the Bucks led after one 25-24.
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The second quarter opened up with a couple of Greg Monroe post-ups, turned buckets. Milwaukee built on the lead from there, moving the ball well, finding three-pointers from Spencer Hawes and Jason Terry. The 39-year-old veteran was booed, then came down and hit another three. JET then asked for more boos, like the prize that he is.
From that point, the Bucks just kept piling it on, outscoring the Kings 44-26 in the quarter. Giannis took over and finished the half with 22 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two steals, one block, and zero turnovers. Milwaukee went into the half up 69-50.
The Kings got off to a 10-3 run to start the second half behind a couple of buckets from Skal Labissiere. Tony Snell ended the run with a kick out three, and the Bucks chipped away to build their lead back up to 14 points. It wasn’t their best quarter, but they maintained a double digit lead. The Kings outscored Milwaukee in the quarter 25-21.
Heading into the fourth quarter up 90-75, Milwaukee just needed to avoid a nap in the soft looking field of grass. The lead was never in danger as the Bucks took care of business winning the game 116-98.
With the all important victory secured, what are the key takeaways from Wednesday’s game?