The West coast road trip continues for the Bucks as they visit Sacramento to take on the young Kings on Friday night. Milwaukee is coming off a 107-98 victory over the Warriors Wednesday evening, which featured sloppy play and poor shooting from both squads. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way for Milwaukee with 30 points and 12 rebounds as the Bucks held off Golden State.

Sacramento has won 3 of their last 4 games after suffering an 8-game losing streak which knocked them out of playoff positioning in the Western Conference. The young backcourt of Buddy Hield (20.4 PPG) and De’Aaron Fox (18.3 PPG) leads the way for the Kings offensively, who lack playmakers aside from those two.

It will be a clash of pace in Friday’s contest as Milwaukee and Sacramento play at vastly different speeds. The Bucks play at the fastest pace in the NBA while the Kings rank 28th in pace. If the Bucks are able to keep the game up-tempo, the odds of winning swing in their favor.

Starting lineups:

MIL: Bledsoe, Matthews, Middleton, G. Antetokounmpo, B. Lopez

SAC: Fox, Hield, Barnes, Giles III, Bjelica

Injuries: Giannis Antetokounmpo (back soreness) is probable to play while Ersan Ilyasova (knee soreness) is questionable. Marvin Bagley III and Bogdan Bogdanovic with both miss the game for Sacramento.

Time and TV: 9:00 PM CT on FS Wisconsin

The spread: MIL -9

Prediction: The Bucks have been a bit shaky with their play recently, and Sacramento has shown flashes this season of being able to topple talented squads. This has all the makings of a trap game for Milwaukee, who have gone ice cold from deep recently. Kings 111, Bucks 106

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