The Bucks are winners of four out of five games after defeating the Sacramento Kings to open their four-game West Coast road trip. Dominating for much of the game, things got too tight for comfort in the fourth—the
Kings narrowing the margin to just three at one point—but the Bucks, led by Kevin Porter Jr. and Giannis, showed resilience to get the job down. Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast, Bucks In Six Minutes, below.
Player Grades
Giannis Antetokounmpo
32 minutes, 37 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, 13/17 FG, 11/13 FT, +17
Giannis was his dominant self in this one, scoring every one of his points in the paint—in fact, his furthest shot attempt was each of his 13 free throws. Playing his most minutes since returning from injury—thanks in large part to waving off a Doc Rivers attempted substitution in the fourth—Giannis was too much for all of the Kings defenders sans Russell Westbrook, who did a surprisingly good job amidst the Kings’ run to begin the fourth. He did have the blinders on at times, though—notably looking off AJ Green—and finished with just one assist. He also failed to collect a steal or block for the fourth time this season.
Grade: A–
Kevin Porter Jr.
40 minutes, 25 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 8/15 FG, 1/2 3PT, 8/8 FT, +16
Porter continued his strong play, stepping up when the Bucks needed it most in the fourth quarter. In total, he scored 10 points and dished three assists in the period to steer the Bucks home and, on the night, committed just two turnovers to go along with his 10 dimes. Porter now has 45 assists to just 11 turnovers over the last five games. Oh, and just in case you forgot, Horst got him for MarJon Beauchamp (who, despite being thrown a lifeline by the Philadelphia 76ers, has yet to play this year)!
Grade: A
Ryan Rollins
34 minutes, 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 4/11 FG, 2/5 3PT, 2/2 FT, +18
With Giannis and Porter carrying the load, Rollins took a back seat in this one, finishing with a rather pedestrian line—at least compared to what we’ve come to expect from him. Still, he was solid overall, upping his double-digit scoring streak to 35 games. As the stats showed on the broadcast, Rollins is the MIP—or at least should be.
Grade: C+
Myles Turner
32 minutes, 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 5/13 FG, 3/9 3PT, 2/2 FT, +29
Turner did most of his scoring—11 of his 15 points—early and late, and supported that with strong defence that led to a team-high plus/minus of +29. He now has multiple blocks in four consecutive games, which is his longest run since his first four games as a Buck. It shouldn’t be surprising that this stretch has coincided with the Bucks’ best stretch of the season. More please.
Grade: B
AJ Green
32 minutes, 1 point, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 0/6 FG, 0/6 3PT, +25
I feel like a broken record writing about Green. He’s now just 18/64 (28%) from three since returning from injury and just 12/53 (23%) if you ignore the outlier against the Grizzlies. He’s a career 43% three-point shooter, though, so things will even out, but boy is this a rough stretch for him.
Grade: F
Kyle Kuzma
18 minutes, 3 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1/4 FG, 0/3 3PT 1/2 FT, +1
Kuzma was part of a really nice transition sequence where the ball never touched the floor and ended in a Rollins three pointer. But outside of that, he was largely invisible for much of the game, as has been the way recently—he’s scored six points or less in three of the last four games.
Grade: D+
Bobby Portis
16 minutes, 9 points, 11 rebounds, 4/11 FG, 0/3 3PT, 1/1 FT, -12
It was a tale of two halves for Portis, with the Mayor of Milwaukee quite literally doing nearly all of his damage in the first. He had all of his points by the 9:06 mark of the second quarter and 10 of his rebounds by halftime. At one point, Portis even converted a tough, multiple-effort offensive rebound into a left-handed hook that made it look like he was going to have another one of the special nights he’s been having lately. But Portis just couldn’t get anything going in the second half, and Rivers wisely limited his minutes.
Grade: C+
Gary Trent Jr.
22 minutes, 13 points, 1 rebound, 3 assist, 4/8 FG, 4/8 3PT, -5
Despite the negative plus/minus, Trent was valuable last night, getting back to his role as a sharpshooter off the bench after failing to trouble the scorers in the last two outings. Trent seldom offers anything outside of shooting, and last night was no different, but it was great to see him find his rhythm from deep, which led to his most minutes since playing 30 against the Raptors on December 19.
Grade: C+
Gary Harris
15 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist 0/2 FG, 0/1 3PT, -4
Despite what your memory might say, Gary Harris played basketball for the Milwaukee Bucks last night. He didn’t hurt the Bucks, but he didn’t do anything to help them either. Expectations are the only thing keeping this from being an “F.”
Grade: D
Doc Rivers
Rivers’ decision not to panic into a second timeout early in the fourth when the Kings were cutting the lead to a two-possession game was a bold one, but it might just pay dividends down the road, giving the Bucks confidence that they can get through the tough times themselves. He’s also tightened the rotation, giving Jericho Sims his first DNP since November 28 against the Knicks, and deserves at least some credit for the Bucks winning five of their last seven. On the other hand, they perhaps should have won the last seven, and Giannis waving off his attempted substitution doesn’t exactly scream “coach that’s in control.”
Grade: C+
DNP-CD: Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Cole Anthony, Amir Coffey, Andre Jackson Jr., Jericho Sims.
Inactive: Taurean Prince, Alex Antetokounmpo, Pete Nance, Mark Sears.
Bonus Bucks Bits
- Heading into the game, Trent had missed his last six three point attempts. Last night, he hit his first two and three of his first four. He missed his next two, but his fourth broke an 11-2 Kings run late in the third.
- In the last five Bucks wins before last night’s game, Porter and Rollins had combined for 76 assists and just 18 turnovers. Last night, they maintained this with 13 assists and just four turnovers.
- The Bucks held the Kings without a field goal for a stretch of more than six minutes in the second quarter and to just 44 points overall in the first half.
- Portis had double-digit rebounds in the first half alone. After failing to register one of these in the season’s first 25 games, BP now has six in the last 11 games.
- According to the broadcast, Giannis is up to 15 left-handed dunks on the season.
- The Kings didn’t break 50 points until a Westbrook—yes, you read that correctly—three at the 7:18 minute mark of the third quarter. It was just the Kings’ second make from distance (2/14) at that point.
- For as bad as things have been for the Bucks this season, you’ve got to feel for the Kings. As emeritus writer Mitchell Maurer—in house for the game—said, “It is depressing in here. Like mid-2000s Bradley Center sad.”
- Back-to-back Kings threes to open the fourth cut the Bucks’ lead to just 10 points—the closest it had been since the 9:06 mark of the second quarter.
- The Bucks didn’t score in the fourth quarter until a KPJ and-one at the 9:31 minute mark. By that point, the Kings had made it a four-point game. It would turn into a personal 8-point run to keep the Bucks afloat.
- In the space of 13 seconds, Thanasis Antetokounmpo was called for a technical foul while on the bench and Drew Eubanks shot a wedgie that, together, epitomised a very odd game.
Up Next
The Bucks take on the Golden State Warriors in the second leg of their four-game West Coast trip. You can find all the action on ESPN and FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin—tip off is at 9:00 p.m. Central.
