The Milwaukee Bucks certainly took care of business Sunday night as they took a 128-115 victory over the Sacramento Kings at Fiserv Forum.
Given their own recent form, Milwaukee certainly welcomed seeing a slumping Kings team come to town that features the worst defense in the NBA. And they lived up to that billing as the Bucks regained their offensive juice, especially after having scored under 100 points in the last two games.
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With their offense clicking in full gear, the Bucks made easy work of Sacramento all night long as they handily cruised to their 18th victory of the season and their second straight win.
So without further ado, let’s explore what all stood out the most in the Milwaukee Bucks’ win over the Sacramento Kings.
First takeaway from Milwaukee Bucks’ win over Kings — Giannis Antetokounmpo runs wild
With the Bucks clicking for the vast majority of the night, it was only natural for that to be led on by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
It wasn’t the fastest start for Antetokounmpo as he initially had trouble finishing through multiple defenders and crowds in the paint. That was also made so by the Kings looking to foul Antetokounmpo whenever he saw daylight going to the basket and making him try to beat them at the free throw line.
To their demise, Antetokounmpo made them pay as he matched his career-high of 19 made free throws on a career-high 24 free throw attempts. Eventually, Sacramento’s gambit didn’t hold as Antetokounmpo continued to exploit their hapless defending both in the post and within the interior as he piled up 16 paint points.
To say that Antetokounmpo was in his bag would be an understatement as he eventually broke out his version of the ‘Dream Shake’ that I’ll coin the ‘Dream Smoothie’ (patent pending) in the game’s waning moments. It’s shots and reps like these that will certainly be useful for Antetokounmpo to develop a counter to the ever-looming wall he faces in bigger clashes down the road.
All in all, Antetokounmpo finished with 38 points on 9-for-19 shooting (1-for-2 from deep, 19-for-24 from the free throw line), 18 boards, six turnovers, four assists, a steal in 33-and-a-half minutes.
Just your typical MVP stuff from Antetokounmpo and we’ve certainly seen more and more of that as the season has gone on.
Second takeaway from Milwaukee Bucks’ win over Kings — Khris Middleton is getting back on track
There’s no question the Bucks have missed Jrue Holiday over the last two weeks and his absence has affected some of their cornerstone players the most, namely Khris Middleton.
However, Middleton showed no sign of being slowed down Sunday night as he put in quite the bounce back game, to say the least.
Working in tandem with Antetokounmpo, Middleton looked plenty comfortable hoisting up shots over any and all of Sacramento’s perimeter defenders. As he routinely got to his spots, Middleton was truly conducting the ‘Tough Shot Express’ by consistently putting down some ridiculous shots as the Bucks continued to pull away from the Kings.
With his offense rolling, Middleton put in a strong performance defensively as he was disrupting Kings players from getting into the flow of their offense. It was former Bucks player Jabari Parker who Middleton pounced on a couple of times when digging down in the post and snatching away the ball from the journeyman forward to get the Bucks started on the break.
Middleton wound up finishing with a season-high 32 points on 13-of-22 shooting (3-for-5 from downtown, 3-for-3 from the foul line), eight rebounds, six assists, five turnovers, four steals and two blocks in 32-and-a-half minutes.
Whether the Bucks have Holiday or not, Middleton still stands as one of their metronomes and it was clear over the Bucks’ losing streak that he was off time with his teammates. When he has it clicking like he did last night, he and the rest of the Bucks follow in rhythm.
Third takeaway from Milwaukee Bucks’ win over Kings — Donte DiVincenzo’s improved scoring effort
As much as the Bucks follow the beat of Antetokounmpo and Middleton, it certainly helped to see Donte DiVincenzo get back to scoring double digits.
While the third-year guard had a subpar shooting night, he more than made up for it with the pressure he applied at the rim and in the paint. DiVincenzo was superb in receiving the ball on the move and slashing his way through the lane to give the Bucks the complementary scoring they needed throughout the night.
With the burst he showed when touching the paint, DiVincenzo put down some out of character finishes at the basket, including this tough one when absorbing plenty of contact from Kings center Richaun Holmes.
It’s that area of DiVincenzo’s game that we haven’t seen consistently enough of, especially when he has a down shooting night like last night. Of course, he won’t be going against a defense worse than the Kings, but the skill DiVincenzo showed putting down scores at the basket was welcoming to see all the same.
Elsewhere, DiVincenzo put in plenty of work quieting the likes of De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield, who both had off nights, respectively. As the Bucks continue to grow accustomed to switching, DiVincenzo’s comfort level in those situations continues to grow little by little.
DiVincenzo finished with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting (1-for-4 from three, 1-for-2 from the free throw line), three assists, two rebounds and a block in more 30 minutes and 42 seconds on the court.
The Bucks will search for their third straight victory when they host the scuffling Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday night at Fiserv Forum.