A high profile non-conference matchup is set for Sunday night in the NBA when the Sacramento Kings (23-15, 20-18 ATS) travel to take on the Milwaukee Bucks (26-12, 16-21-1 ATS). Milwaukee will be on the second night of a back to back, as they hosted Golden State on Saturday night (Note: this article was posted before the results of the Warriors/Bucks game). The Kings are coming off a blowout loss against the 76ers, going down 112-93 as half point underdogs. Milwaukee recently buried the Celtics, wining 135-102 as 2.5-point home dogs. This is the first of two matchups between these teams this season. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 EST from the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
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The Sacramento Kings went into Philadelphia in their last game, and it was announced that Joel Embiid would not play shortly before the game. This led the Kings to underestimate their opponents, as Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris blitzed the Kings in a 19 point win. The Kings still sit at 5th in the West, and have won four of their last six. Against Philadelphia, the Kings were led by De'Aaron Fox with 21 points in the loss.
Fox leads the Kings with 27.7 PPG and is their top perimeter defender with 1.6 steals per game. Fox has been improving his outside shot, he now makes 3.2 threes per game which leads the team. Fox has had 19 or more in his last three games, including a high of 26 in the win against Detroit. Domantas Sabonis leads the team in rebounds and assists with 12.7 RPG and 7.7 APG, while adding another 20.1 PPG. Sabonis is an all-around post player, and recently put up 37 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds against the Pistons. Keegan Murray continues to improve in his young career, he now averages 16.1 PPG and 5.6 RPG. They surround their starters with shooters, as Harrison Barnes adds 10.8 PPG and Kevin Huerter adds another 9.5 PPG as spot-up shooters in the starting lineup.
Malik Monk is a big time scorer off the bench, he is averaging 15.0 PPG. Trey Lyles and Sasha Vezenkov take up the rest of the minutes off the bench. Sacramento is currently ranked 14th in offensive efficiency and 17th in defensive efficiency according to dunksandthrees.com. The Kings play at the 11th fastest tempo in the NBA.
Injury Report:
Day-to-day: Kevin Huerter