The Milwaukee Bucks broke free of their three-game losing streak Wednesday night by taking a 112-97 victory over the shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers.
Having started their road swing out west on down note with their 129-105 loss to the L.A. Clippers earlier in the week, the Bucks had plenty of motivation to climb out of their losing skid. However, the Lakers had different plans in store and their hot shooting start in the first quarter looked to be a recipe for disaster for the Bucks.
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That ultimately proved to be short-lived as the Bucks gradually turned around the game with their second quarter turnaround that saw them outscore the Lakers 33-19 and carry a 57-49 lead into halftime.
Milwaukee didn’t look back from there, though the Lakers put in their best effort to stay within range of the Bucks for the rest of the night. But the undermanned Lakers were eventually dispatched by a Bucks team that finally returned in the win column.
So without further ado, let’s break what all stood out the most in the Milwaukee Bucks’ win over the Los Angeles Lakers last night.
Milwaukee Bucks brave off Lakers’ hot shooting start in win
It was far from a crisp start for the Bucks, especially as they saw the Lakers dialed in early from 3-point range. Los Angeles’s 30-point first quarter was fueled by going 8-for-13 from beyond the arc in the first frame and while the Bucks had been playing in their traditional drop-back scheme, their transition defending proved to be lackadaisical at best.
As they tightened up their defense and started to switch more, the Lakers grew increasingly cold from deep. To that point, the Lakers went 2-for-23 from that range for the rest of the way Wednesday night.
Some of that came down to bad shooting luck, especially after their hot start, but the Bucks did stay more connected to Lakers shooters just as Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer talked about after the game.
Post-game, Budenholzer said the players addressed this themselves between the first and second quarter.
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) April 1, 2021
Before the coaches could get into them about the topic, they talked about it themselves. They knew they weren't connected enough to shooters and weren't defending the ball. https://t.co/nGzHE14jTM
Milwaukee’s recent win streak saw them benefit from poor shooting nights from their opponents and that quickly turned when going against the likes of the Boston Celtics and the Clippers recently. They won’t be faced with the same luck the rest of their trip, but they took advantage of the diminished firepower the Lakers currently have at their disposal.