Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 112-87 win over Sacramento Kings

Best defense

For any Bucks fan, talking about the team’s defensive issues has become such a recurring talking point that it’s become second nature at this point (with good reason, obviously).

The Bucks responded to quiet all the criticism (for now) over their recent defensive efforts by putting in a disruptive and a more disciplined defensive performance against the Kings.

Featuring a more modified, switching scheme, the Bucks shut down the Kings for meaningful stretches throughout the game with a more dialed in approach from the players and perhaps more importantly, the coaching staff. In addition to that, the Bucks feasted off of the Kings’ miscues throughout the night as they scored 28 points off of Sacramento’s 16 turnovers.

Whether it was the result of the tinkering made in advance of the game or going against a low assist and low three-point shooting team like the Kings, there wasn’t much of a chance for the Kings to exploit the Bucks’ defense in the ways we’ve seen regularly over the last few seasons.

But as we should expect at this point, there are no firm guarantees that this kind of convincing showing will last, especially on a game-to-game basis. Nonetheless, it was comforting to see the Bucks lock down the Kings defensively, even if it may have been just for a night.