The short-handed Kings dropped their fourth straight game Saturday night, falling to the Milwaukee Bucks in embarrassing fashion by a final of 117-91 at the Bradley Center.
Like 13 other NBA teams, the Kings passed on forward Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2013 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-11 stat stuffer ran circles around the Kings on his way to a 17-point, 8-rebound, 8-assist near triple-double performance. He added four steals and a blocks in his 25 minutes of action for head coach Jason Kidd.
With the “Greek Freak” carving up the Kings defense, Mirza Teletovic found soft spots all around the perimeter. He caught fire in the first half, pouring in 16 of his 22 points during a wild shooting barrage before the intermission. Teletovic finished the night 7-of-9 from behind the arc.
Jabari Parker hit the Kings for 19 points on 6-for-14 shooting and Matthew Dellavedova kicked in 10 points and four assists in the win.
DeMarcus Cousins was without his right-hand man Rudy Gay, who missed the game due to a rib issue. He still managed to post numbers, but the Bucks doubled him all night long, including away from the ball. Cousins finished the night with 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting and grabbed four rebounds in 28 minutes. With the game completely out of hand, the two-time All-Star didn’t play in the fourth.
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With Gay sidelined, Omri Casspi picked up his first start of the season and brought much needed energy. Unfortunately, it didn’t equate to Gay-type production. Casspi finished the night with six points on 3-for-8 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.
Garrett Temple added 19 points and played aggressive defense off the Kings’ bench. Newly signed Jordan Farmar hit 3-for-8 from long range on his way to nine points and seven assists in his first regular season game in a Kings uniform.
Arron Afflalo couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. Despite having plenty of open looks, the Kings starting shooting guard went just 2-for-10 from the floor on his way to seven points. Through seven games, the 30-year-old shooting guard has hit double-digits in scoring just once.
Rookies Skal Labissiere and Georgios Papagiannis made their NBA debuts in the blowout loss. Labissiere scored eight points and grabbed three rebounds, while Papagiannis finished the night with two points, one rebound and three fouls in four minutes.
STANDOUT PERFORMER
Teletovic is a marksman. The 30-year-old Bosnian looked like he was tossing stones into the ocean, hitting his first five 3-point attempts on his way to a 22-point night off the Bucks’ bench.
TURNING POINT
This game was over when it was announced that Rudy Gay was out. Without their second leading scorer, Sacramento had no chance to keep up with the high-octane Bucks. Sacramento trailed early, but Milwaukee turned the screws on them in the third quarter, outscoring the Kings 29-15 for a 27-point lead going to the fourth.
INJURY UPDATE
Rudy Gay missed his first game of the season with strained rib cartilage. He was joined on the sidelines by Anthony Tolliver who has a knee issue. Darren Collison missed his seventh straight game due to suspension.
WHAT'S NEXT
Sacramento finishes off their five-game road trip with a trip up north to face the Toronto Raptors. They return home following the game where they will take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.
