Chances slip away vs. Kings.
Milwaukee loses in playoffs 1st round
The Milwaukee Bucks had their chances, but like so many others in Las Vegas, couldn’t get a firm grip on victory Wednesday night in a 69-65 loss to the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the summer league playoffs.
“I feel like we gave the game up,” guard Sterling Brown said. “We missed shots that we usually make, missed a lot of free throws and on the defensive end we didn’t box out.”
The Bucks, who shot just 25.6% in the first half, fell behind by as many as nine points with three minutes remaining in the third quarter before coming to life. Former Wisconsin standout Bronson Koenig ignited a 13-3 quarter-ending run with a three-point and Rashad Vaughn, who started the game 1 of 11 from the field, did the bulk of the damage with a pair of layups to help Milwaukee take a 4948 lead into the final period.
The game remained within a four-point window through the first five minutes of the fourth quarter before Gary Payton II, who missed Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers with a bruised right ankle, gave the Bucks some breathing room. First, he nabbed a steal and deposited a layup then on the next play he took a pass from Vaughn and knocked down a corner three to boost Milwaukee’s lead to 61-55 with 4:41 left.
“We looked at each other, looked at the clock and said, ‘You know, let’s get it going,’ “Payton said regarding how he and Vaughn approached crunch time. “Told them just to follow me and just sit down and we needed a stop. We got a couple stops back-to-back and turned them into points at the end but unfortunately, we came up short.”
After that, though, the Bucks went 1 of 8 from the field, with the only make coming on a long Vaughn three that he was forced to throw up in order to beat the shot clock. Vaughn, who came back to Earth following a hot start to summer league, finished with 12 points on 4 of 18 shooting.
Vaughn missed a layup with the game tied and under a minute left. Following a pair of free throws, Bucks first-round pick D.J. Wilson’s inbound pass was intercepted to all but seal the loss.
Forward Skal Labissiere scored 19 points for the Kings
Payton, who said his ankle was sore but manageable, returned to action with 11 points and five steals, but also had four turnovers in 25 minutes. While his offensive numbers have fluctuated, Payton has recorded five steals in each of the two summer league games in which he played.
The loss means the Bucks (1-3) will conclude summer league with a matchup against the Utah Jazz (0-4) at 5 p.m. Friday at Cox Pavilion.