The Sacramento Kings fell in the fourth contest of their five-game road trip, 117-91 to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Kings faced another tall task on the road Saturday night. Playing in Milwaukee, the Kings were unable to extinguish a hot shooting night from the Bucks, who claimed victory at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Led by the play of reserve Mirza Teletovic, Milwaukee got in the zone from behind the arc. The Bucks made 14-of-33 from three-point distance. Teletovic came off the bench and shot 4-of-4 from beyond the arc to score 14 of his 22 points in the first quarter. As has become the case in Bucks games Giannis Antetokounmpo was central to his teams performance, he scored 17 points, took eight rebounds, dished eight assists, pilfered four steals and executed a block. Giannis’ regular mixed bag of everything is becoming a much needed asset for Milwaukee.
Garrett Temple was a bright spot for the Kings on Saturday night. The veteran guard led the way for Sacramento, finishing with 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting from three. Meanwhile, DeMarcus Cousins finished with a solid 15 points, eight of which were scored in the first quarter.
The Kings missed the presence of one of their leading scorers. Rudy Gay sat tonight’s game due a rib injury. Prior to tonight’s game, Gay was averaging 22.5 while shooting 50.5 percent from the field for the Kings.
Skal Labissiere made his NBA debut Saturday evening. The Kings rookie entered the game at the 3:23 mark of the third quarter and scored the first points of his NBA career in the final minute of the period.
Georgios Papagiannis also got his first taste of NBA action in Milwaukee. The 13th overall pick of 2016 Draft entered the game in the fourth quarter, scoring the first bucket of his career on a dunk. South Sudanese big man Thon Maker played nine minutes, scored three points and pulled down six rebounds.
Malachi Richardson also scored the first basket of his career from behind the arc.
Jordan Farmar’s first basket as a member of the Kings was a three-point make in the second quarter. Farmar finished with nine points and seven assists for Sacramento.
The Kings finish their five-game road trip with a meeting with the Toronto Raptors.
by Jonathan Santiago
First appeared on NBA.com Global
