Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 113-103 loss to Los Angeles Lakers
Despite the herculean performance of superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks fell to the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night in a potential NBA Final preview.
With all eyes on the two best teams in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers exacted their revenge on the Milwaukee Bucks as the league’s best team fell in a 113-103 loss at the Staples Center Friday night.
The Bucks came out rolling, thanks to the play of their superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and raced out to an early lead. But both the Bucks and Lakers were mired by missed threes and plenty of fouls as the first quarter wore on and it was the Bucks who held a 22-19 edge at the end of one.
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That choppy tone carried over into the second quarter as the Bucks still kept the Lakers at bay with their ability to knock down threes, albeit inconsistently.
But the Lakers generated responses and continued to nip at the Bucks’ heels before knotting things up at 48 going into the halftime break.
Disaster quickly struck once play picked back up in the second half. The Lakers quickly assumed control of the lead from the Bucks a little more than three minutes into the third quarter and the Bucks continued to tailspin as they lost the rhythm of the game and their ability to hold off the Lakers inside the paint.
With LeBron James taking full control, the Bucks needed a big shot in the arm, which was given by Donte DiVincenzo. Still, DiVincenzo’s impressive third quarter merely kept the Bucks afloat as the Lakers led 87-76 through three.
Milwaukee mounted their fourth quarter comeback as the Lakers’ offense went cold and came as close as to make it a 4-point game at multiple points midway through the period. But that’s as far as they would take it as the Lakers held off the Bucks for good to eventually hand the Bucks their 10th loss of the season.
So without further ado, let’s delve into what all stood out in the Bucks’ frustrating loss to the Los Angeles Lakers from Friday night.