The Sacramento Kings will have a short trip, between Chicago, where they play on Friday and Milwaukee where they’ll pay the only annual visit to the Bucks, on Saturday night. Still, it’s a back-to-back and the Bucks have just returned home from a West Coast trip that included a blowout win in Sacramento, so it’s going to be a tough game for a team heading to the lottery.
Kings at Bucks
Spread: Milwaukee -11.5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: over/under 198 points (-110)
The Kings had East after getting crushed by the Bucks
The win over the Warriors and the positive mood coming out it lasted for less than a day for the Sacramento Kings. They were listless the next day when the Bucks came in and showed them their place, defeating them 87-112. It’s nothing new for the Kings either – they were blown out against Denver, Atlanta, Washington and New York this month, to name a few. Sacto is just 6-15 to start the season and play 8 of their next 10 games on a road, starting with a visit to three Central Division teams.
Their previous game was just a total mess. No player played more than 24 minutes and it comes to no surprise that no lineup had enough time to settle in and get into something of a rhythm. The shots wouldn’t fall for them, but even if some players had a decent percentage, they were still quickly changed for others. Garrett Temple led the team with 18 points. He also led the team in minutes played and by the worst +/-. Cauley-Stein continue to play well in his newly found sixth man role with a skeleton double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds), but nobody else stood out. The Kings shot just 40.3 percent from the field and hit 5 treys on the night. On the other side, they’ve let the Bucks hit 59.2 percent of their attempts and trailed by as much as 36 points.
They kick off the road trip with a visit to Chicago, a winnable game, so there’s a likely scenario where they focus on the first game and put in a similar performance against the Bucks as they did the last time two sides met. They are healthy, but it’s not a thing that’s helping them – their coaches seemingly want to play all their players, and it results in such disorganized games as described in short above.
Place: BMO Harris Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Date/Time: Saturday, December 2nd, 2017. 8:30 PM ET
TV Coverage: Fox Sports Wisconsin, NBCSCA
The Bucks hope to have formed a Big-3
The Bucks went 3-1 on the road trip out West – one of an easier type, but it can’t still be dubbed as a successful one. After barely beating the Suns in overtime to start it, and bad loss in Utah, the Bucks pulled two double-digit victories in Sacramento and Portland. The last one is the coup of the trip, even though the Blazers aren’t what was expected of them, or what they claim they are.
The Bucks wouldn’t waste time. They led by 12 after one, and by 15 at the half. The lead would continue to grow to 20+ before the Blazers managed to salvage some pride during the garbage time in the fourth. The Bucks dominated from start to finish, clicking on both ends during a 103-91 win. By the game’s close, Middleton (26 points), Bledsoe (25p) and Antetokounmpo (20p) had combined for 71 of Milwaukee’s points as well as 13 assists and six steals. They all looked comfortable and in rhythm as they each played to their strengths. Antetokounmpo had a tougher than usual night shooting at 7 of 20, but that didn’t affect his effort as he collected nine rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocks. Middleton and Bledsoe got things going in the first quarter, with Middleton putting up 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting and Bledsoe adding seven. The Bucks controlled the pace, locked down on defense and took advantage of Blazers turnovers.
Dellavedova and Teletovic remain out, but the Bucks adjusted by playing their top players more minutes, offsetting the need for better depth. It may hurt them long term, but for now, they have been able to transfuse this to a better continuity and learning how to play together.
Sacramento Kings at Milwaukee Bucks Game Trends & Prediction
Prior to the tonight’s game against the Bulls, the Sacramento Kings have an 8-11-2 overall record against the spread. It’s not too bad until we separate the away games – the Kings are 2-7-2 when traveling. With four overs in the last five contests, Sacto is now 11-10 against the total points expected lines, but the change of fortunes comes mostly from the bookies adjusting their lines.
The Bucks have covered in their last two games after a poor stretch for their backers, so it may be a start of something good. They’ve gone 9-9-2 ATS so far this season and weren’t dominant enough at home, covering in just three of the nine games played in Milwaukee. They seem to tighten up, feeling the pressure of having to win in Bradley Center, and it also results in playing more unders at home. They are 3-6 at home in total points market and 7-4 away from it.
Admi-Rank: It’s much easier to keep such a poor rank as the Kings currently have – the expectations are very low. The Bucks are on the up trend, playing better and having something to show for their effort. They are a significantly better side than their next rival.
The Kings don’t respond well to playing on consecutive nights. They are currently 0-4 on the second night of a back-to-back, with one of those losses coming against the Bucks on Tuesday. I had faith in them at home, where they were helped by a large spread, but they failed to show up. The lines were set to +7 & 198 the last time around, but the Bucks will face a steeper challenge this time.
The bookies have set the home side as an 11.5-point home favorite, a setting that goes on par with how the market closed in the last game. It’s still a value on the away side, like in the previous encounter, but with concerns of Kings not taking this second game of a back-to-back seriously enough, I’m not interested in taking sides. Instead, let go after the over points. The tempo in the last meeting was good, and the Kings do struggle to score at times but are capable of a better offensive performance than they showed – and their 87 point output was still enough to go over the bar.
My Pick: (no wager on the spread)
Total: Over 198 points (-110)
