By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO–When you compete this hard–for 48 minutes and overtime–it’s the last thing you want to hear.

But there was Eric Bledsoe, basking in the glow of hand delivering the road win for Eastern Conference-leading Bucks, and wanting to say something conciliatory towards the Kings after one of the best, and most competitive games in the NBA this season.

Again, it was the last thing the disappointed Kings wanted to hear.

“Even if they don’t make it this year–even if they do–they’ve got a bright future,” Bledsoe said of the promising Kings.

Yeah, that’s nice, Eric, but what the Kings really would have appreciated was a season-transforming win. After a stretch of five games against the some of the league’s best teams, the Kings have just one win, hardly the qualifications for ending the NBA’s lengthiest, playoff drought dating back to 2006.

“That’s what happens when you’re trying to make the playoffs, you go through some bumps and bruises, but we have to keep fighting and keep grinding,” said Buddy Hield, who led Sacramento with 32 points.

On the night the Clippers lost at Utah, and the Lakers got past the Pelicans at home, the Kings may have played the best basketball, but fell two games out of the coveted, eighth spot in the Western Conference.

The Kings didn’t shoot well, or shut down a Bucks’ attack that improved at the trade deadline with the addition of Nikola Mirotic, but they did protect the ball, hit the offensive glass and put up a whopping 118 shots. That effort paid off in the fourth quarter when the Kings wiped out a 13-point deficit and propelled themselves into overtime.

“They made several runs at us. … Just really impressed with their young players and with the job coach Dave is doing. They have a hell of a future ahead of them,” said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer.

But the Kings reached overtime at a disadvantage without rookie standout Marvin Bagley, who was injured running into a hard screen in the middle of the floor that left him with a knee contusion. Bagley will have an MRI examination today to determine the severity of the injury.

The Bucks also reached overtime without their biggest star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was limited to 24 minutes due to a sore knee that forced him to miss Milwaukee’s previous game. But Bledsoe and Malcom Brogdon both hit big shots in the extra session to secure the win for the Bucks.

The Kings have an estimated 12 percent shot to make the playoffs, and overcome their most likely outcome of 41-41. Eleven of the Kings’ 22 remaining opponents currently have winning records, and their schedule is measurably tougher than the Clippers and the Spurs schedules.

Winning 45 games is still the goal, as that’s where the Clippers project as the most likely eighth-seeded team in the West. The Kings would need to win 14 of 22–which would be their hottest stretch of the season–to reach 45 wins.