Surprise Ending to Kings’ Streak

It took more than two years for an Eastern Conference team to win at Arco Arena.

The Milwaukee Bucks accomplished that feat Tuesday night, getting 26 points from Michael Redd and 22 points and 11 rebounds from Keith Van Horn in a 112-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

The loss ended Sacramento’s home winning streak against Eastern Conference teams at 29 games, dating to a 97-86 loss to Indiana on March 3, 2002.

No one had to remind Buck rookie Coach Terry Porter about the Kings’ dominance. He was an assistant coach last season in Sacramento.

“Some of our coaches were talking about it before the game, they had dominated Eastern Conference teams in this building,” Porter said. “As well as they play in this building, this is big for our confidence. This is a good sign for us.”

Milwaukee, which had lost five in a row and eight of nine, handed the Kings their 20th loss of the season and knocked them a half-game behind Indiana for the league’s best record.

“We’ve got to win our home games, we’ve got to keep winning,” King Coach Rick Adelman said. “They just had their way with us at the offensive end.”

Unlike the teams’ previous meeting, a wild offensive slugfest won by Sacramento, 124-117, this time the Bucks managed to frustrate the Kings, who shot 44% and had only six fastbreak points.

Milwaukee, which shot 51% and outrebounded the Kings, 44-36, raced to a 15-3 lead and never trailed. The best Sacramento could do was tie the game at 50.

“We played out of our minds tonight,” Redd said. “We played really well. But we’ve been playing pretty solid basketball for a little bit now. And we were due for a big win. Tonight we got it.”

Mike Bibby scored 27 points and Peja Stojakovic scored 21 points for the Kings, who play the Lakers tonight at Staples Center.