On a day where multiple trades and an injured LeBron James left the Lakers shorthanded and with only eight of their normal rotation players, they couldn’t overcome a second half surge from the red-hot Bucks, losing 115-106.
This game was a tale of two halves, with the Lakers coming out playing free and easy to start out, showing that they still had enough talent to compete with a Bucks team that had won nine of their previous 10 games.
Anthony Davis was a major part of this early effort, knocking down his jumper against a Bucks’ defense intent on keeping him out of the paint by sagging off and swarming him on his dives off-ball to deter entry passes. Davis took advantage of the space, popping into the open gaps and shot his jumper with confidence and in rhythm, scoring eight of his 23 points in the first quarter to give the Lakers a five-point lead after 12 minutes.
In just his second game back after missing over a month with his strained hamstring, Austin Reaves also came out early looking to attack and played with a rhythm he lacked in Tuesday’s game vs. the Thunder.
Playing with a good rhythm and flow to his game, Reaves eagerly forced the action offensively by creating space for his jumper and when trying to get into the paint. Austin would finish the night with 18 points on 7-11 shooting, including a sweet drive and finish vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Even with Austin and AD going the way that they were, however, it was Dennis Schröder who stepped up his game most with the team down so many bodies. Combining his quickness and ability to get to his spots with the extra attention AD was drawing in many of the screen actions they ran together, Dennis was fantastic getting to his pull up jumper and in finding creases to the paint for shots at the rim.
Dennis would finish the night with a team high 25 points on 10-17 shooting to go along with 12 assists. And with him going as well as he was early, as well as with AD, Austin, and several other players chipping in, the Lakers were able to push their 1st quarter lead out even more to take and eight-point lead into halftime.
In the 2nd half, however, the Bucks were able to settle in and find their own rhythm to chip away and wrestle control of the game back. In the 3rd quarter, Milwaukee outscored the Lakers 38-23, fueled by Giannis and Jrue Holiday, who combined for 26 of those 38 points.
Both got their jumpers to fall and, when mixed in with their normal ability to get into the paint to finish, the Lakers got put back on their heels. Giannis would finish the night with 38 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, while Holiday would finish with 18 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Khris Middleton would add 22 points off the bench, hitting 10 of his 18 field goal attempts.
The Lakers will return to action on Saturday when they travel to the Bay Area to play the Golden State Warriors. They will look to bounce back, potentially with some of their newly added players available for action.
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