National Basketball Association

Milwaukee Bucks Game Preview: Nov. 5 vs Sacramento Kings

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:58 p.m. ET

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The Milwaukee Bucks seem like they’re starting to shape up. Can they keep their winning steak alive against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night?

Nov 25, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay (8) during the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Sacramento won 129-118. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The Milwaukee Bucks looked exciting and, more importantly, good when they played the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. The Bucks won 125-107, and grabbed their their third win of the season.

That victory extends the Bucks winning streak to two games, the longest such streak they’ve enjoyed all season. Milwaukee seemed to be in a hopeless situation without Khris Middleton, but the Bucks are really fighting to still win games without their consistent shooter.

Many players, including the newly-added Tony Snell, have stepped up to keep the Bucks on track this season. Those players will need to keep putting in work on Saturday night, when the Bucks face off with the Sacramento Kings in Milwaukee.

The Kings are 2-4, but in fairness to them they’ve only played two home games, one against the dominant San Antonio Spurs. They haven’t got the record to prove it, but they look better than they have in years past. Are they good enough to overcome the Bucks?

We’ll go through the major keys to victory for both teams, look at a player to watch in this one, and then finally make our predictions!

Jan 29, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker (12) reacts with center Greg Monroe (15) and forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) after scoring a basket in the first quarter against the Miami Heat at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Major Key For Milwaukee: Let The Big Two Cook

First, let’s look at Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker’s combined statistics from the win over the Pacers: 54 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists, two steals, three blocks. They shot 63 percent from the field, 50 percent from three-point territory and 75 percent from the charity stripe.

The Bucks big three is those two players and Middleton, but they seem to be doing pretty well for themselves in K-Midd’s absence. Keeping them cooking like they have been is going to be the major key for the Bucks all season.

Especially now that Jason Kidd has began to stagger their minutes a bit, keeping one of Jabari and Giannis on the floor for pretty much the entire game, it’s possible for one of Milwaukee’s big two to be constantly attacking the opposition.

With the way he’s played, maybe Greg Monroe can become the fill-in member of the big three. For now though, it’s the big two’s time to shine in Milwaukee. I don’t know a single Bucks fan who isn’t thrilled to watch them work.

Mar 30, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) high fives forward Rudy Gay (8) after a basket against the Washington Wizards during the second quarter at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Major Key For Sacramento: Share The Burden

The Sacramento Kings have just two players scoring in double figures thus far this season: DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay. The Bucks have four such players, and five players total scoring more per game than Sacramento’s third-leading scorer, Ben McLemore.

That’s a problem for the Kings. More than two guys need to be able to score the rock, but Gay and Cousins have shouldered most of the scoring load thus far this season. If one of those guys got shut down by the opposition, and nobody was ready to step up, the Kings would be without a paddle.

And it’s not like there are no other players who can score in Sacramento. McLemore, Arron Afflalo, Ty Lawson, Omri Casspi and Matt Barnes have all been double-digit scorers in the past. Dave Joerger and the Kings now need to get one or more of them going this season.

Hopefully for the Bucks sake it takes at least one more game for that to happen. Gay has been fantastic this season, but Giannis should be able to at least slow him down. That could lead to disaster for the Kings, who are in the middle of a tough road stretch right now.

Nov 3, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) and Orlando Magic forward Serge Ibaka (7) go for the ball in the second half at Amway Center. Orlando Magic won 102-94. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

Player To Watch: DeMarcus Cousins

Despite how good Rudy Gay has been, Sacramento runs through Boogie Cousins. This is Boogie’s team, for better or for worse. He’ll see a lot of different centers lined up opposite from him on Saturday night, but knowing Cousins he won’t have too much trouble scoring on all of them.

More from Behind the Buck Pass

Despite being the best low-post center in basketball, Boogie never gets the benefit of the doubt from the officials (probably due to his incessant jawing.) That leads to his primary weakness–Cousins picks up a lot of fouls.

In six games, Boogie has fouled out twice and picked up less than three personal fouls zero times. Greg “And-One” Monroe might do a huge service for Milwaukee in addition to his other contributions if he can get Cousins into foul trouble with a few of those loud screams while he’s on offense.

Boogie is a huge problem for other teams, but he’ll be Sacramento’s problem if he fouls out early enough in this one. If he doesn’t, though, the Bucks better watch out. He’s averaging 27.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game this season.

Nov 1, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) reacts after a basket against the New Orleans Pelicans during the fourth quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Bucks defeated the Pelicans 117-113. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Finale

The Bucks looked great against Indiana, but it’s important not to overreact to one game in an 82 game season. It’s also important to remember we make our picks at the beginning of the week, which explains some of them taking Sacramento by a wide margin.

As long as Boogie doesn’t go full meltdown and foul out in the first quarter or something, the Kings should make this a close game. If Sacramento can’t get anyone outside of Gay and Cousins scoring though, it might not matter.

Still, the Bucks aren’t exactly a powerhouse, even if they did look very good against the Pacers. This should be an interesting game, and will hopefully result in another W for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Predictions and Leaderboard:

Ti Windisch: Kings by 2 — 4-1, 41 point differential

Lukas Harkins: Bucks by 12 — 4-1, 46 point differential

Adam McGee: Kings by 10 — 4-1, 51 point differential

Jordan Treske: Bucks by 5 — 3-2, 59 point differential

Tim Wray: Bucks by 5 — 2-3, 58 point differential

Tom Pheister: Bucks by 6 — 2-3, 67 point differential

Adam Coffman: Bucks by 4 — 3-1, 49 point differential

Rohan Katti: Bucks by 7 — 3-1, 51 point differential

The game is on Saturday night at 7pm CT, and will be televised on Fox Sports Wisconsin.

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