The Milwaukee Bucks did their job and won the duel against the Sacramento Kings (133-127). The loss of Giannis Antetokounmpo, with discomfort in his knee, did not prevent the current champions from adding their third consecutive victory. Khris Middleton led the team in scoring.
The Kings smelled blood with the losses of the Bucks and went directly to the game and without speculation. Led by eight points from Harrison Barnes and seven from Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento finished the first quarter with an eight-point lead. However, Milwaukee’s reaction was not long in coming. The team entered the second quarter very well, spurred on by Budenholzer’s talk, and turned the result around to reach the break with an advantage.
After the break, the Bucks’ lead grew even bigger. The Kings were beginning to get frustrated against a team that seemed to show no fissure. Despite this, those from Sacramento would cut some distance before reaching the decisive fourth quarter. After three quarters, Milwaukee was leading 94-86. Sacramento kept fighting in the final minutes and came relatively close to pulling off an upset. However, a short 6-0 run in the closing minutes was too much and the Bucks won the game.
In the statistical section, Middleton’s game stands out, showing once again that he is capable of leading the team when Giannis is missing. He finished with 33 points and a remarkable 5 of 7 in triples. Khris has the ability to connect the rest of his teammates with his game. Jrue Holiday, with 26 points, and DiVincenzo, with 20 off the bench, were also stars. For the Kings, Barnes and Haliburton stood out with 29 and 24 points, respectively.
Matthews joins the casualties
The negative note of the game was left by the injury of Wesley Matthews. The Bucks player fell to the ground in the middle of a defensive possession. He managed to get back up as he visibly limped across the runway. The Bucks continued to play and did not call a timeout. Budenholzer finally stopped the game with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
“I should have called time out. I thought it would be a pain that could go away, but if I could go back and do it again, I’d ask for a quicker timeout.” The technician also added an estimate of his injury.“We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. For him in particular, having one or two more days without a game is going to be good. The report I received is that we expect it to be some kind of bruise or knock to the knee and nothing more than that.».
(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
