SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento hosted the Bucks on the night of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s return from a right wrist injury, pushed Milwaukee to its brink, and stood up to the title favorites in an on-court bout. It was a heck of a night for Kings basketball.
In a postgame edition of the Locked On Kings podcast, host Matt George explained what this game shows about Sacramento’s quality and identity as a team.
“I can’t find really anything to be mad at from tonight’s Kings game,” George said on the show. “The Sacramento Kings gave the Milwaukee Bucks all they could handle.
“I’m not making any excuses for the Sacramento Kings. If you want to be a championship team yourself, you have to find ways to win these games and beat teams to the caliber of the Milwaukee Bucks. But the Kings aren’t that caliber yet, I have no problem saying that.”
The Bucks put up a 37-point third quarter to gain an advantage and got 46 points and 12 rebounds from Giannis Antetokounmpo in total to take the victory, but Sacramento was far from a pushover, once again playing an intense home game and enforcing their will on it.
“This game was a battle between these two teams. I have no issue with jawing on the floor. I have no issue with Trey Lyles taking exception to that jawing and showing that he and the Kings are not going to be punked, and I have no issue with him and Brook Lopez getting into it,” George explained. “If the Kings are good enough to bring that out of the Milwaukee Bucks … you know what that’s called? That’s called meaningful playoff basketball.”
Sacramento heads on the road to play the Bulls on Wednesday night.