The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Sacramento Kings 115-98 in a game that was _mostly_ uneventful to kick off their West Coast swing. Giannis was dominant for the Bucks with 37 points and 11 rebounds. Russell Westbrook stuffed the stat sheet for the Kings with 21 points, six rebounds, three assists, four steals, and three blocks.
The first quarter was basically a dead heat, with neither team able to stop the other from scoring consistently. Giannis nabbed two early buckets at the rim; the Kings are yet another team without the guys to guard him. Crucially, Gary Trent Jr. got some threes to go after going 0/6 over his last two. A Bobby Portis mid-range shot gave the Bucks their first real separation of the game, up 26-19 with just under three minutes left. Unfortunately for the visitors, Zach LaVine, returning from injury, came off the bench to score a quick five and cap a 7-0 run from Sac to even the game. A late Portis bucket had the Bucks up 28-26 after one.
The Bucks opened the second on an electrifying 9-0 run, opening with another Trent triple, followed by a Portis and-one, and concluding with a Rollins transition bomb—all with Giannis on the bench. LaVine answered out of the timeout with a personal 4-0 run, but the Bucks would counter with an 11-2 blitz to blow the lead out to 15, 51-36, with just under five minutes remaining; Giannis was able to score easily over any given defender, while KPJ and Turner slotted in as secondary options. The Kings, on the other hand, were chucking up brick after brick, failing to register a single field goal in over six minutes (yes, _six minutes_). Bucks up 62-44 at half.
Giannis got off the chain early in the third, dominating inside to get the lead back up to 20 at the 8:33 mark. Rollins followed up with his own three and layup to give the Bucks a 25-point edge; the Golden One Center sounded like a library at that point. Russell Westbrook responded by putting heat on the rim, but Porter responded by doing the exact same. The Kings made something of a run late in the period with Giannis out, attacking in transition and getting to the charity stripe; this run had Milwaukee’s edge down to 16, 85-69, heading into the final frame. 69 was the second-fewest points allowed through three quarters for the Bucks all season.
By not blowing the lead out to end the third, Milwaukee gave Sacramento a sniff, which they capitalised on early with two straight threes from LaVine and Dennis Schroder—Bucks edge at 10 and an early Doc timeout. The timeout did not have the desired effect, with the Kings whittling their deficit down to just four on the ensuing three possessions. Thankfully, a breakdown in the Kings’ pick-and-roll defence allowed KPJ to get to the rim for an and-one finish, halting the momentum and giving the Bucks their first field goal since around the two-minute mark of the third. Milwaukee was able to knuckle down on defence and find ways to manufacture buckets on offence through KPJ and Giannis, going on a 16-3 extended run to put the game out of doubt.
Giannis shooting with 13/17 efficiency is something we’ve gotten used to as Bucks fans, but should not be taken for granted. The big fella walked all over the Kings tonight.