Life on the road has been a mixed bag for the Milwaukee Bucks, who are fifth in the Eastern Conference with 13 games to play.
The Bucks (39-30) continue their season-long five-game road trip with a matchup against the Sacramento Kings (35-34) on Saturday.
Milwaukee opened the trip with a disappointing 104-93 loss to the Golden State Warriors before defeating the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 118-89 on Thursday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points and Gary Trent Jr. added 23 for the Bucks, who capitalized on a night when the Lakers played without five of their top six scorers.
“I mean, I don’t really care,” Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said of Los Angeles’ depleted lineup. “We’re on a road trip. And we’re trying to win games. We felt like we blew one in Golden State so we really, honestly, your only concern is that your guys just keep their focus. Obviously, with those guys out, we’re supposed to win the game, and we won the game. But I don’t think much of it. It happens.”
Milwaukee improved to 15-18 on the road this season and received a defensive spark from 22-year-old guard Ryan Rollins, who finished with 10 points, five rebounds, three steals, and a block.
“Ryan pressures the ball and picks the ball up, and ball pressure is amazing, what it does for everybody else,” Rivers said. “They were starting their offense at 16 and 14 (left on the shot clock) because of Ryan, one guy. That’s huge for us.”
Milwaukee will be without star guard Damian Lillard, who missed Thursday’s game with a right calf injury.
The Bucks are looking for a season sweep of Sacramento after winning 130-115 on Jan. 14. Antetokounmpo scored 33 points, and Milwaukee led wire-to-wire.
Sacramento holds the ninth seed in the Western Conference and is beginning a challenging three-game stretch, which also features the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Kings fell to 2-1 on their seven-game homestand with a 128-116 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.
Malik Monk scored 34 points to lead Sacramento, which was outscored by 21 points in the second half. Chicago shot 52.3 percent from the field.
“There’s a lot there that’s unacceptable,” Kings coach Doug Christie said. “You can’t just let people come into your house and do what they want. Super, super disappointed. And I told them this one should hurt. It should hurt if you care about it.”
Sacramento was outscored 60-48 in the paint without center Domantas Sabonis, who will be reevaluated next week after suffering a sprained right ankle in Monday’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
One bright spot in the loss was guard DeMar DeRozan becoming the 27th player in NBA history to score 25,000 points.
The 35-year-old DeRozan finished with 22 points and joined LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry as active players to reach the milestone.
“A lot of people don’t get to the NBA. For him to do that is crazy,” Monk said. “I’m mad we didn’t get the win for him. A lot of people won’t do that. Hats off to DeMar. That’s why he’s going to be in the Hall of Fame.”
–Field Level Media
