Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 46 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and the Milwaukee Bucks used a 14-5 run late in the fourth quarter to defeat the host Sacramento Kings 133-124 on Monday.
Khris Middleton scored a season-high 31 points and dished out nine assists for the NBA-leading Bucks, who came into Monday’s contest with the streaking Kings having gone nearly two months without consecutive losses. After dropping a Saturday visit to Golden State in overtime, Milwaukee appeared in jeopardy of falling again throughout the first half at Sacramento.
Sacramento built a lead of as many as 15 points before intermission behind Domantas Sabonis, who shot 8 of 12 from the floor in the first half. Sabonis recorded a triple-double with 23 points and game highs of 17 rebounds and 15 assists but was held to just 3-of-11 shooting in the second half.
Milwaukee chipped away at the deficit before taking a lead in the third quarter that it only relinquished sparingly the rest of the way.
Sacramento threatened late behind big second-half performances from De’Aaron Fox, who finished with 35 points, eight rebounds and two steals, and Kevin Huerter, who scored 28 points on 8-of-11 3-point shooting.
When Harrison Barnes scored three of his 14 points on an and-one play with just over four minutes remaining, the Kings pulled within 116-114. But Milwaukee responded with its decisive run, pushing the advantage to double digits, and the game was out of reach.
Middleton shot 4-for-6 from the floor in the fourth quarter to close out what was his best offensive performance of the season.
Antetokounmpo’s double-double was his 11th of 40-plus points and 10-plus rebounds on the season, and Brook Lopez added 23 points and eight rebounds before an ejection in the closing seconds. Lopez and Sacramento’s Trey Lyles got into a shoving match shortly before the buzzer, and both players were tossed.
–Field Level Media
