sacbee.com photo: Kings guard Darren Collison (7) drives to the basket as Bucks center Greg Monroe (15) defends Wednesday night at Golden One Center. Hector Amezcua hamezcua@sacbee.com

By London Marq

SACRAMENTO–The Kings season is all but over when you look at the standings. Since the trade of Demarcus Cousins, Sacramento has been in a free fall, winning only two of their last 13 games that free fall continued Wednesday night in a 116-98 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at Golden One Center. In their 36th home game this season, the Sacramento Kings (27-43) host the Milwaukee Bucks (35-35). The upside is all of the young talent the team has acquired over the past two seasons is playing valuable minutes. With the likes of Skal Labissiere and others, the future looks bright for the Kings.

The great Pat Summit once said “you can’t win a game in the first half, but you can lose one.” Through two quarters Milwaukee shot 61% from the floor totaling 69 points, including 12 points off of seven turnovers. The Bucks also capitalized from deep, hitting nine of 18 three pointers. Giannis Antetokounmpo had a monster half against the Kings on both ends of the floor, with 22 points and eight defensive rebounds in the first half alone he finished the game with 32 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. The Kings were able score 50 points in those two quarters but their defensive deficiencies were too much to overcome.

As usual, the Kings played efficiently on offense, and dreadfully on defense. After giving up 44 points in the second quarter, they were in a hole too big to get out of. The Kings closed the gap to 11 with 5 minutes to go in the fourth quarter but failed to capitalize on the momentum they had gained.

Bucks def. Kings 116-98