Former Sacramento Kings player Chris Webber talks about his memoir titled “By God’s Grace” at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on April 12, 2024. The NBA Hall of Fame player shares memories of the time out, Fab Five and his other life lessons in his new book. By Paul Kitagaki Jr.
The Milwaukee Bucks couldn’t miss early in Saturday’s game against the Sacramento Kings.
The fans even got in on the act with one young man hitting a halfcourt shot to win a prize at the end of the first period. At that point, the Kings appeared to be headed for a lopsided loss, but they flipped the script with a show of resilience that left coach Doug Christie beaming with pride.
Zach LaVine produced his fifth 30-point game of the season to lead the Kings to a dramatic 135-133 victory over the Bucks before a sellout crowd of 17,341 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
“I think that part of believing in something, sometimes you need to see it and you need to know it’s true and it’s there,” Christie said. “That team right there showed the type of fight that I think the whole city of Sacramento would be extremely proud of. So, for me, huge, huge win. It’s only one, but you continue to fight like that in this league and you’ll win.”
LaVine scored a game-high 31 points to help the Kings (2-4) snap a three-game losing streak. DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points.
Domantas Sabonis put up 24 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Dennis Schroder had 24 points, five rebounds and seven assists while Russell Westbrook came off the bench to posted 12 points and a season-high 10 assists.
Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo had 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for the Buckets (4-2). Kyle Kuzma scored 22 points. AJ Green and Gary Trent Jr. scored 17 points apiece.
Green intentionally missed the second of two free throws with 1.1 second remaining and his team trailing by two. Antetokounmpo came up with the offensive rebound, but LaVine stripped the ball from his hands as time expired.
Schroder was asked how badly the Kings needed a win after losing four of their first five games.
“We needed it bad,” he said. “Winning always feels good. If you lose, you try to figure it out. Losing is not a good feeling, so this one feels great. It’s really, really hard to win in this league, and we pulled one out today.”
Halftime report
Milwaukee started the game with a 9-0 run and outscored Sacramento 15-2 over the first three minutes, going 5 of 5 from the field while the Kings went 1 of 6.
The Kings finally broke the ice when LaVine hit a midrange jumper with 8:36 to play in the opening period, but they couldn’t stop the onslaught from Milwaukee. The Bucks went up 18-4 on a 3-pointer by Myles Turner. They led 28-13 after going 10 of 12 from the field and 6 of 7 from 3-point range to begin the game.
The Bucks led 44-33 after shooting 72.7% in the first quarter. They went up by 14 early in the second, but the Kings staged a 12-1 run to cut the deficit to three on a three-point play by DeRozan with 4:23 to play in the half.
Sacramento tied the game on a 3-pointer by LaVine with 12.3 seconds remaining. The Bucks were clinging to a 71-70 lead at the break after going 1 of 6 from 3-point range and 2 of 7 at the free-throw line in the second period.
Going into the game, the Kings were 27th in the NBA in opponent points in the paint (58.0). They were 28th in free-throw attempts (20.6) and free-throw percentage (.728). In the first half against the Bucks, the Kings went 14 of 16 at the foul line with a 36-30 advantage on points in the paint.
Second-half summary
The Kings took their first lead of the game on a 3-pointer by LaVine at the start of the second half. LaVine hit two more 3-pointers as part of a 13-0 run that put Sacramento up 94-83 with 5:10 to play in the third period.
The Kings went up by as many as 11 while shooting 54.5% with nine assists and one turnover in the third quarter. They led 108-102 going into the fourth.
A transition 3-pointer by Keon Ellis put the Kings up 116-107 with 9:51 to go. The Bucks trailed by seven when Antetokounmpo returned to the game with 7:38 remaining. They got within five on a 3-pointer by Antetokounmpo with 3:24 to play, cut the deficit to three on a dunk by Antetokounmpo with 2:55 to go and drew within two on a pair of free throws by Antetokounmpo with 2:28 remaining.
Turner hit a 3-pointer from the corner to bring the Bucks within one with 51.4 seconds remaining. Milwaukee had a chance to regain the lead after getting a defensive stop at the other end of the floor, but a wild pass by Antetokounmpo resulted in a turnover.
At that point, the Bucks were forced to foul. Schroder made two free throws to put the Kings up 135-132 with 14.8 seconds to go.
Green missed a 3-pointer with 5.3 seconds remaining, but the Bucks corralled the offensive rebound. Green was fouled on the floor, resulting in two free throws. He made the first and missed the second on purpose.
Antetokounmpo grabbed the offensive rebound, but LaVine ripped the ball out of his hands before Antetokounmpo could go up for a putback basket that would have tied the game.
Up next
The Kings will conclude a four-game road trip when they visit the Denver Nuggets on Monday at Ball Arena.
The Nuggets (3-2) had won three in a row before suffering a 109-107 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday. Jamal Murray is averaging 26.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists. Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic is averaging 20.4 points, 14.4 rebounds and 10.8 assists.