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.
On a mission
Whether they were leading like they did for much of the first half or when he was trying to give his team a lift during their frustrating second half, Giannis Antetokounmpo was determined to keep his team in it Friday night.
Seeing the floor for 35 and a half minutes of action, Antetokounmpo finished with a team-high 32 points on 21 shots (1-for-6 from three, 11-for-14 from the foul line), 12 rebounds, six assists, two turnovers, one steal and was a -11 on the night.
Antetokounmpo came out firing on all cylinders as he rampaged towards the rim with a variety of tough and-one finishes and the occasional rim-rattling slam. As the Bucks searched for ways to kickstart their offense following their hot start, Antetokounmpo struggled to find his shooting stroke from long distance just as he had done in their first meeting with the Lakers back in December.
Despite his efforts to fire away when given plenty of space to do so, Antetokounmpo remained lethal when finishing at the rim, especially as he was used as a screener in pick-and-rolls to get him rolling to the rim as well as to the foul line. And that led us to the scariest moment of the night when Antetokounmpo fell over a lying Avery Bradley on a point-blank attempt and tweaked his left leg, which he quickly clutched.
The 25-year-old would finish out the game in what remained from that point, but there were a few moments were Antetokounmpo looked to be moving gingerly. Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer relayed Antetokounmpo’s assurance that he was fine following the scary fall and will continue to consult with the Bucks’ medical team, per ESPN’s Malika Andrews.
After Giannis Antetokounmpo took a scary fall in the fourth quarter that left him clutching his knee, Mike Budenholzer said he thinks Giannis is “okay.” Budenholzer said he will speak to the team’s medical staff after speaking to reporters.
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) March 7, 2020
Giannis Antetokounmpo said that his knee is “good.” He was wearing a compression sleeve on his left leg and was limping around the locker room. He also got three stitches in his lip after the game.
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) March 7, 2020
The Lakers did a fine job in trying to slow down Antetokounmpo, but he proved to be too much and was central to the Bucks’ comeback attempt during the fourth quarter. Considering the stakes, the game flow and level of pressure leveled at him, you couldn’t ask for a better performance from Antetokounmpo, all things considered.
His starting supporting cast on the other hand…
Bledsoe’s blues
Well, here’s a story we’ve seen too many times before. Veteran Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe delivered yet another worrisome outing in a high-profile game and was basically neutralized, most of which was by his own doing.
Whether it was the wavering confidence he showed when looking to finish or attacking the rack, the amount of offensive fouls he recorded in such situations and his general ineffectiveness to space the floor, Bledsoe keeps falling in the same hole that has been consistent with his failings in each of the Bucks’ last two playoff trips.
With Bledsoe literally playing himself out of the game, given his foul trouble, it only made the absence of George Hill that much more critical for the Bucks as they were without their security blanket.
Bledsoe’s struggles, paired with Middleton’s own awful night as he couldn’t buy a bucket from all levels of the floor (12 points on 19 shots, 2-for-10 shooting from long range) left Antetokounmpo forced to pick up the pieces, along with anyone who could offer something of substance to the Bucks.
All in all, Bledsoe scored 11 points on 13 shots (0-for-3 from deep, 1-for-1 from the foul line), five turnovers, four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and was a -1 in 28 and a half minutes of burn.
If there’s one narrative that will be crowed about the Bucks in light of their latest loss that rings true, it’s Bledsoe’s extended floundering in big moments that could prove to be the biggest detriment to their looming playoff run.
Dazzling Donte
As the Bucks searched for any kind of spark during their hapless start to the third quarter, it was second-year guard Donte DiVincenzo who rose to the challenge.
Much like he had done earlier in the week in the Bucks’ loss to the Miami Heat, DiVincenzo charged to the rim to get through the heart of the Lakers’ defense as the Bucks’ offense sputtered out of control. Before long, DiVincenzo hit back-to-back triples as the Bucks sought to come back from their double-digit deficit before adding another spectacular reverse finish late in the third quarter.
The 23-year-old’s spark faded going into the fourth quarter, but he certainly had more moments between hitting his third and final triple as well as flying in to block Lakers forward LeBron James at the rim out of nowhere midway through the period.
DiVincenzo posted 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field (3-for-7 from long range), four assists, three rebounds, two steals, one block and was a -14 in 24 and a half minutes of burn off the bench.
DiVincenzo’s late season surge keeps on rising and rising and with every checkpoint he crosses in big moments, it only raises the excitement of what his first playoff run will look like.
The Bucks will look to get back on track when they take on the Phoenix Suns Sunday evening at Talking Stick Resort Arena.