Just like Santa, kids. The Bucks failed to get consecutive wins put together again as the Kings manhandled Milwaukee the whole night.
Box Score (probably)
Okay seriously, what does one have to do for their team to win consecutive basketball games in a season? What number do you have to call to make sure this happens? Do winning streaks cost money now? How much?
The Bucks failed to secure back-to-back wins for the first time this season, and looked pretty ugly trying to do so in a 116-102 loss to the Sacramento Kings. When Sacramento wasn't carving up Milwaukee for 50 points in the paint, they were knocking down jumpers or getting to the line, where they knocked down 26 of 32 attempts. The Kings were paced by their big three of Isaiah Thomas (25p/6a/4r), Rudy Gay (22p/8r/5a) and DeMarcus Cousins (21p/10r/5a), while being supplemented by Ray McCallum (15 points) and Reggie Evans (13p/5r/1 case of making Ersan go insane).
Tonight's game should slam the brakes on the idea that the Bucks were starting to play ''too good'' to finish outside anywhere but the bottom two in the league. After keeping the game kind of competitive for the first quarter, the Kings kicked it up a notch and began to attack Milwaukee's vulnerable interior and met little resistance. Even if the Bucks could present a decent initial challenge, the Kings would move it around and attack from a different angle. There was little the Bucks could do to stop the 12th-ranked offense, and eventually the struggles in the paint spread to all areas of the court, and so went the rest of the game.
Observations/Stats:
Brandon Knight (25p/6a/5r), Jeff Adrien (15p/5r), and Khris Middleton (11p/4r) were the only Bucks in double figures, and both Adrien and Middleton got over that threshold in the late minutes of the game. There just wasn't much clicking on the offensive end the entire night. The physicality of the Kings' bigs left the Bucks visibly frustrated most of the night, as nothing came as easy as they hoped it would. Yuck yuck yuck.
Not like it's breaking news to anyone, but the pairing of Zaza Pachulia and Ersan Ilyasova was abused defensively by the Kings frontcourt, and when they were catching their breath, John Henson stepped in and took a pounding as well. There just wasn't any way around it: the Bucks big men got straight bullied tonight. Let's move on to something else.
Ersan went bonkers on Reggie Evans. Though the league will probably take a look at it and leave a nice little message for Ersan, I can't help but laugh at how quickly Ersan flips his lid. Granted there was probably a lot that led up to that moment (I mean, come on. It's Reggie Evans), but look at it. Isn't it nuts?
More on Ersan in another post coming soon, though.
It just seems ridiculous at his point that Nate Wolters, Giannis, and John Henson can barely get more than 20 minutes a night. Again, how much do we have to pay to make this happen? Who will start the Kickstarter to get the ball rolling here?
The Bucks hopefully will return to a little more consistent form in their two remaining games this week. They visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday before returning home the next night to host the Washington Wizards. Now quick, erase this game from your memory.