Kings, Bucks engage in verbal confrontation

Things got quite heated after the Sacramento Kings upended the Milwaukee Bucks at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

As Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel reports, Bucks guard O.J. Mayo challenged Kings center DeMarcus Cousins to meet him in the hallway leading to the locker rooms after the game.

The commotion spilled into the tunnel as both teams engaged in a shouting match, before security personnel escorted the players back to their respective locker rooms.

Gardner also reports that Bucks players escorted Mayo to the parking lot.

Emotions certainly ran high towards the end of the game, as Bucks head coach Jason Kidd got himself ejected for confronting an official late in the fourth. He had to be restrained by Mayo as he headed to the locker room.

Though, Kidd claimed that he didn't know what happened with the shouting match between the two teams.

"I was having a Coke and some popcorn, so I don't know," Kidd said. "I was sent in early."

Bucks guard Jerryd Bayless also claimed to be oblivious to the situation.

"I don’t know," Bayless said. "I wasn’t really paying any attention."

Putting aside the Bucks' radio silence on the matter, it's not hard to see why they would be frustrated. They've fallen on hard times after a promising showing last season.

Tuesday's loss to the Kings (who were without their best player in Cousins as he was sidelined with a strained back) dropped the Bucks to 6-9 on the year. Milwaukee has also been outscored by 7.2 points per game this season - the fourth-worst mark in the league - despite playing the third-easiest schedule to date, per Basketball-Reference's strength of schedule metric.

And as for the Kings? This is already their second verbal confrontation of the season. At least this one was with the opponent and not within the team.