Kings 102 - Bucks 89
Attendance: 13,746
Time: 2:09
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(Getty Images / NBAE)
MILWAUKEE, December 19 (AP) -- Ron Artest scored 26 points and had eight assists and Beno Udrih hit a career-high six 3-pointers to help the Sacramento Kings beat the Milwaukee Bucks 102-89 Wednesday night to finish 3-2 on its five-game road trip.

Udrih, traded to and released by Minnesota on Oct. 29, and signed by the Kings on Nov. 1, finished with 24 points for the Kings, who had been 0-9 before the road trip.

Sacramento, without Mike Bibby (thumb), Kevin Martin (groin) and Shareef Abdur-Rahim (knee), played six players at least 26 minutes, and everyone played a role. But Udrih was lights-out down the stretch as the Kings went 12-of-16 in the fourth quarter.

Michael Redd, who had 27 points for the Bucks, scored 10 straight midway through the fourth only for Sacramento to answer each time.

Udrih hit a bank-shot 3-pointer and Artest added a 3 of his own to give the Kings an 88-85 lead, then Artest stripped Redd and fed Francisco Garcia for a layup to stretch the lead to five.

After a timeout, Redd turned the ball over again on a sloppy pass and Udrih hit another 3 as the 24-second clock expired. On the next possession, Udrih, who finished with 11 points in the quarter, hit another shot from behind the arc, his sixth in seven attempts, to make it 96-87 with 2:28 left as the Kings finished on a 17-4 run.

Full AP recap

Postgame News and Notes

The Bucks dropped to 8-3 at the Bradley Center with tonight’s loss. They are 2-12 on the road.

The Bucks also fell to 4-2 when returning to the Bradley Center after a loss on the road.

Over the hump: By beating the Bucks, the Kings won their first Wednesday night game in six tries this season (1-5). Sacramento has won at least once every other day of the week, including their only Sunday contest.

Run n’ gun: The Kings went on a 12-3 run midway through the first quarter, including a stretch where they outscored the Bucks 6-0. The Bucks responded with a 10-2 run to close the quarter, including a 7-0 stretch. Sacramento then scored the first 6 points of the second quarter, quickly followed by a 7-0 run by the Bucks.

Milwaukee dropped to .500 (4-4) this season when tied or ahead at the half.

After sinking 8 of their first 9 shots (88.9%), the Kings hit just 9 of their next 30 (30%) to close out the first half. Sacramento shot 43.6% during the first two quarters.

Bucks center Andrew Bogut picked up his team-leading eighth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 boards. Teammate Yi Jianlian was one bucket away from his first career double-double (8 points, 12 rebounds).

All five Kings started scored in double figures tonight, lead by Ron Artest’s 26.

Bucks guard Desmond Mason left with a thumb sprain in the 2nd quarter. He did not return.

Tied at 85 late in the 4th, the Kings outscored the Bucks 17-4 to end the game, including an 8-0 run.

The Bucks are 2-12 when their opponent reaches 100 points and 2-7 when limited to 89 points or less.

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Locker room video: Charlie Bell & Mo Williams
Click "play" on the video player to the right to watch exclusive locker room video from Wednesday's loss vs. Sacramento. Or use the links below to watch and listen to archived video and audio.

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Locker room: Charlie Bell & Mo Williams
Game highlights

Game highlights

Larry Krystkowiak

(On tonight’s game…)
“I really feel like the bookends on this game were really the first eight minutes and the last eight minutes. It’s no consolation prize, but the 32 minutes in between was pretty good basketball. We let (Sacramento) shoot 90 percent until about the eight-minute mark, then they finished off the game with the same clip, so that was frustrating. We had 15 assists at halftime and we finished with 21, so obviously we started floundering a little bit. The key to it is that we had 20 turnovers that led to 27 points for them.”

(On defending the three-point shot...)
“The reality is we’re dead last in the league at defending the three-point shot. We are 30th. We put a lot of focus on trying to keep people out of the house, and I thought we did a decent job of that, with the exception of the first and last eight minutes. It leads me to believe that at the point of attack, whether it’s pick-and-roll or penetration with (John) Salmons and those guys, we were constantly having to help, and then it was finding guys on the perimeter.”

(On the team’s performance down the stretch…)
“I think what happens is you get wound up on defense, where they’re penetrating and making open shots and hitting threes after you’ve just put an awful lot of effort into defending and you don’t succeed at it. You’re playing catch-up ball. It’s hard to get that back at the other end and you start forcing the issue a little bit. The momentum in the NBA game with the short shot clock is huge.”


Charlie Bell

(On the King’s start to the game tonight…)
“Tonight they came out and went like 11 for 12 on their first 12 possessions and they got their confidence going. We’re the ones taking the crowd out of the game and we’re the ones whose back is against the wall now.”

(On tonight’s loss…)
“When you look at it, it’s a long season. You’re going to lose some that you probably should’ve won, and I’m sure we’ve won a couple of games that we probably shouldn’t have won. We just have to continue to work. Continue to stick together, continue to get better, and hopefully come out of this funk that we’re in.”

(On the team’s slow start…)
“I think we just have to have more of a sense of urgency. Sometimes when we start games off we kind of have the tendency to take it easy in the first couple of minutes and try to get into the game.”


Andrew Bogut

(On the team’s recent struggles…)
“Once you get two or three (wins), you get back on a roll. But were at the point where we can’t seem to win two straight. It’s either a win and a loss or a loss and a loss and a win. We just need to get some momentum going.”

Photos by Gary Dineen (NBAE/Getty Images)

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Andrew Bogut


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