{"id":333848,"date":"2011-03-24T03:20:23","date_gmt":"2011-03-24T03:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/24\/kings-damage-bucks-fading-playoff-hopes-ap\/"},"modified":"2011-03-24T03:20:23","modified_gmt":"2011-03-24T03:20:23","slug":"kings-damage-bucks-fading-playoff-hopes-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/24\/kings-damage-bucks-fading-playoff-hopes-ap\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings damage Bucks’ fading playoff hopes (AP)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

MILWAUKEE (AP)\u2014John Salmons<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> tried and failed to come up with just how the
\nMilwaukee Bucks<\/a> could come up with such a poor effort against the Sacramento
\nKings<\/a> with the playoffs still seemingly within reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a shame,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s all I\u2019ll say, it\u2019s a shame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcus Thornton<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> scored 27 points, Beno Udrih<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> added 25 and the Kings beat
\nMilwaukee 97-90 Wednesday night to damage the Bucks\u2019 fading playoff hopes.
\nMilwaukee (28-42) fell three games behind Indiana for the eighth and final spot
\nin the Eastern Conference with 12 left to play after the Pacers won earlier in
\nthe night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just didn\u2019t have the type of intensity and focus you\u2019d like to see and
\nunderstanding the enormity of the game, we were kind of passive,\u201d Bucks coach
\nScott Skiles said. \u201cIt hurts for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sacramento has won two of three on this five-game road trip and rebounded
\nfrom an ugly 40-point loss to Chicago on Monday night, the Kings\u2019 worst in more
\nthan two years. Kings coach Paul Westphal said he challenged his young team
\nafter the blowout to the Bulls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they heard me in the second half. We really did crank up our
\ndefense,\u201d the coach said. \u201cWe got some really good performances from our
\nbackcourt, but mostly it was our defense and our rebounding in the second half
\nthat won it for us. It was first class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milwaukee\u2019s Carlos Delfino<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> scored 30 points for the second consecutive game
\nto again match his career high, but had 22 of them in the first half.<\/p>\n

The Kings, who are expected to get Tyreke Evans<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> back for Friday\u2019s game at
\nIndiana, got contributions from all over, including 13 points from DeMarcus
\nCousins<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and 11 points and 12 rebounds for Samuel Dalembert<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> to snap Milwaukee\u2019s
\ntwo-game winning streak.<\/p>\n

\u201cMixing Tyreke in there gives us a very strong backcourt rotation,\u201d
\nWestphal said. \u201cThe way Beno and Marcus are playing, it shows we have a chance
\nto have a really, really good backcourt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew Bogut<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> scored 15 points, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> had 11 and rookie
\nLarry Sanders<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> added 10 despite back spasms for Milwaukee, but the Bucks\u2019
\nschedule gets much harder from here.<\/p>\n

They play at New York on Friday and have a home game with Chicago on
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n

Salmons, who started 1 for 9, hit a 3 that gave Milwaukee a 79-78 lead early
\nin the fourth quarter, but finished 3 of 14 for the game as Milwaukee faded
\naway.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a shame, too,\u201d Salmons said. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel in rhythm from the
\nbeginning for whatever reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Thompson<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> answered with a big one-handed slam, Thornton had a dunk of
\nhis own and Thompson added a layup as Sacramento went ahead 86-81 with 5:44 to
\nplay.<\/p>\n

The Bucks, the worst-shooting, lowest-scoring team in the NBA, went cold at
\nthe wrong time, missing six of their final seven shots and committing three
\nturnovers in the final 3:20.<\/p>\n

Delfino hit a 3 that cut the Kings\u2019 lead to 92-90 with 1:11 left, but after
\na miss by Udrih, Bogut was called for an offensive foul when Milwaukee had a
\nchance to tie.<\/p>\n

Thornton missed a jumper, but Thompson grabbed the offensive rebound and
\nUdrih was fouled with 18 seconds left and Sacramento hit five of their last six
\nfree throws to end it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aren\u2019t going to just quit on the season,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cWe want to
\nfinish strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thornton, acquired from New Orleans with cash in exchange for Carl Landry<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span>
\nthis year, continued his run of strong performances, scoring in double figures
\nfor the 14th time in the last 15 games.<\/p>\n

Sacramento began the trip with a 32-point win at Minnesota before losing by
\n40 at Chicago.<\/p>\n

They rebounded in a big way against Milwaukee and should be even better when
\nthey get back Evans, the reigning NBA rookie of the year who has missed the last
\n19 games with plantar fasciitis in his left foot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be great to have him back,\u201d Udrih said. \u201cIt will be interesting
\nto see how coach is going to divide up the minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notes: Delfino finished 12 of 20 from the field and is 29 of 46 in his last
\nthree games, averaging 28.7 points. \u2026 Sanders fell to the court untouched in
\nthe final seconds of the first half and had to be helped off by teammates after
\na back spasm. He returned late in the third quarter. \u2026 Bucks PF Drew Gooden<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span>
\n(left foot plantar fasciitis) was active for the first time in six weeks, but
\ndid not play. \u2026 Bucks G Michael Redd<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> now expects to play Saturday after
\ninitially planning to return on Friday. He has missed 14 months and the better
\npart of two seasons after twice tearing the same ligaments in his left knee.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Read More:
\nKings damage Bucks’ fading playoff hopes (AP)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MILWAUKEE (AP)\u2014 John Salmons (notes) tried and failed to come up with just how the Milwaukee Bucks could come up with such a poor effort against the Sacramento Kings with the playoffs still seemingly within reach. \u201cIt\u2019s a shame,\u201d he said<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-333848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nKings damage Bucks' fading playoff hopes (AP) - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/24\/kings-damage-bucks-fading-playoff-hopes-ap\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Kings damage Bucks' fading playoff hopes (AP) - 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