Bucks 109, Kings 104: Holding on tight

The Milwaukee Bucks brought some positive vibes home from their West Coast trip.

They needed every bit of them.

The Bucks jumped on the Sacramento Kings from the start and then held on for a 109-104 victory on Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

The game was a little tighter than it needed to be for the Bucks after they blew most of a 20-point lead late in the game.

"They kept playing, we were just going through the motions," Milwaukee head coach Jason Kidd said. 

But Kidd wasn't going to wallow in the blown lead.

BOX SCORE: Bucks 109, Kings 104

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"A win is a win in this league: win by one or win by 50," he said. "We did our job. Came off a long road trip and got the win."

It was Milwaukee's third straight victory after finishing a 3-1 road swing with wins in Portland and Sacramento.

The Bucks opened Saturday's game on a 14-0 run, with half of the points coming from Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Kings didn't get their first bucket until Zach Randolph hit a jumper at the 7:44 mark of the first quarter. 

Antetokounmpo finished the first quarter with 13 points, going 9 of 12 on free throws as he continually attacked the basket. 

The Kings, who defeated the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, had eight turnovers in the opening quarter. Sacramento coach Dave Joerger was so upset with his starters that he made a five-player substitution after the first four miscues.

The Bucks were able to capitalize on the Kings' mistakes and push the ball in transition. They had 13 fast-break points in the first half; Sacramento scored two.

Milwaukee was able to expand its lead to as many as 20 points in the third quarter. 

But the Kings whittled the lead down to one with 1:43 remaining in the game before a hook by John Henson and five free throws by Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe gave the Bucks some breathing room.

Antetokounmpo finished with 33 points and 13 rebounds. He was 17 of 22 on free throws, setting a career high for attempts. 

"We've got to be in attack mode and we've got to make plays all night," Antetokounmpo said. "Luckily tonight I went to the free-throw line a little bit more than usually and I was able to make some of them." 

Middleton added 25 points and Bledsoe had 19, coming up just short in getting the Bucks three 20-point scorers for the second straight game. 

Randolph led the Kings with 22 points, often bulling his way to the basket against skinnier Bucks centers Henson and Thon Maker.

The Bucks improved to 8-3 since acquiring Bledsoe in a trade with Phoenix.

"It's great. We still got a long way to go. It's still only been 11 games, You never get to know a player or a team until a full season," Middleton said. "We still have a lot to learn a lot about one another."

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

• The Bucks recalled guard Sterling Brown and forward D.J. Wilson from the NBA G League's Wisconsin Herd. Wilson scored 24 points in the Herd's 116-109 victory over the Iowa Wolves on Friday in Oshkosh. Brown added 14 points and nine rebounds.
• The Bucks are a season-best three games over .500.
• Middleton has scored 25 or more points in six games this season. The Bucks are 5-1 in those games.

UP NEXT

Teams: Milwaukee Bucks (12-9) at Boston Celtics (20-4)

When: 7:30 p.m. Monday

Where: TD Garden

About the Celtics: The Bucks make a quick trip to Boston to face the NBA's best team before coming back to Milwaukee to play the Pistons on Wednesday. The Bucks and Celtics split the first two meetings of the season. The Bucks won, 108-100, on Oct. 18 in Milwaukee's season opener behind 37 points from Antetokounmpo. The Celtics then spoiled the Bucks' "Return to the MECCA" game with a 96-89 victory on Oct. 26 at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.