Programming note: Bucks-Kings coverage starts tonight at 6:30 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet California (territorial restrictions apply) and streaming live right here
UPDATE (1:15 p.m. on Thursday) -- DeMarcus Cousins has been upgraded to probable for Thursday night's game against the Bucks, the team announced in a press release.
The big man has missed the last 10 games with viral meningitis.
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UPDATE (1:10 p.m. on Thursday) -- Larry Sanders has been suspended one game without pay for pushing Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum, the NBA announced in a press release Thursday afternoon.
Sanders will serve his suspension Thursday and miss the Bucks' game in Sacramento.
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The Kings (11-14) look to snap a four-game losing streak hosting the Bucks (13-13), who are playing in the second of a back-to-back after losing 104-97 in Portland on Tuesday.
DeMarcus Cousins, who has been out due to viral meningitis for ten games, is listed as questionable for the matchup versus Milwaukee. The Kings are 2-8 in Cousins’ absence.
Meanwhile, the Bucks lost Jabari Parker for the year on Monday with a torn ACL in his left knee. And Giannis Antetokounmpo is questionable after he left Wednesday night’s game in Portland with a sprained left ankle.
This will be Tyrone Corbin’s second game as interim head coach of the Kings after Michael Malone was fired on Sunday night.
BETTING LINE
Bucks by 6
MATCHUP TO WATCH
Darren Collison vs. Brandon Knight -- Knight comes in averaging 22 points over his last three games while the Kings need Collison’s defense, decision making and leadership to right the ship and get back into the win column.
HERENDA’S AGENDA
1. “Be quick but don’t hurry” -- Embrace the John Wooden mantra and quicken the offensive pace while minimizing the deleterious turnovers.
2. Punctilious defense -- The Kings held OKC to 43 second-half points via “better pick and roll coverage," according to Corbin. Can the Kings pay attention to detail for close to 48 minutes against the Bucks?
3. Relentless rebounding -- Sacramento leads the NBA in rebound margin at plus-7.1, while the Bucks sport a minus-1.6 margin.
INJURY UPDATE
Kings -- Rudy Gay (right Achilles tendinitis) is probable, C DeMarcus Cousins (viral meningitis) and F Reggie Evans (left knee and hip contusion) are questionable while F Omri Casspi (knee contusion) is doubtful.
Bucks -- F Jabari Parker (ACL tear left knee), John Henson (left foot sprain), Ersan Ilyasova, (nasal fracture) and Damien Inglis (post surgery -- right ankle) are out while F Giannis Antetokounmpo (left ankle sprain) is questionable.
SERIES HISTORY
This is the first of two meetings this season between the Kings and the Bucks. Sacramento took last year’s season series 2-0, yet trail the overall series 57-79. The Kings, however, led the series 30-26 in the Sacramento era.
QUOTABLE
Darren Collison: “At the end of the day, it’s just basketball. ... This isn’t a time to put our heads down or feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to find a way to come together and still try to win. Teams are coming in here, (and) they don’t care what our situation is. So it is what it is.”
