After a devastating blowout loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, the Milwaukee Bucks came into Crypto.com Arena looking for a win during their second game of a four-game West Coast trip. Unlike the Warriors matchup, the Bucks were in this matchup the entire 48 minutes, as they constantly went back and forth with the lead facing this Lakers team. Los Angeles was without their star and future Hall of Famer LeBron James, as he was dealing with ankle soreness. With Milwaukee leading 122-121, Los Angeles’ point guard knocked down a driving floater with six seconds remaining to give the Lakers the lead and the eventual 123-122 victory.
The Milwaukee Bucks will take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night, and on Tuesday, they’ll conclude their four-game road trip with a matchup against the Sacramento Kings. With the loss, the Bucks drop to 42-23. The Bucks now slip to the third seed in the Eastern Conference, falling half a game behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. For the Los Angeles Lakers, they now improve to 35-30, ninth in the Western Conference. The Lakers are one game ahead of the Golden State Warriors, and a game behind the eighth-seeded Dallas Mavericks.
Milwaukee Bucks 123-122 Loss to the Lakers Recap
During the first couple of minutes of this matchup, these two teams were in a seesaw affair, as the game was tied at 14 with six and a half minutes to go in the first quarter. Milwaukee had multiple five-point leads. Their biggest lead of the first quarter was six points until Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell knocked down a three to make it a three-point game heading into the second quarter. Brook Lopez and Malik Beasley finished the first quarter with eight points apiece, while Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 10 points.
Once again, these two teams went back and forth with each other during the second quarter. Los Angeles held an eight-point lead at one point. The Milwaukee Bucks knew they had to make this game competitive before it got too out of hand like the Warriors game on Wednesday night. Milwaukee was down four going into halftime with a score of 67-63. Damian Lillard, and D’Angelo Russell both led their teams with 11 points each during that second quarter. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Russell led the game with 18 points a piece.
The Milwaukee Bucks had a few opportunities to take the lead during the third quarter, but the team could not find any answers. While the Bucks were down one or two points multiple times in the third, the Lakers would start a rally, and distance themselves away from the Bucks when it came to the scoreboard. At one point, Milwaukee was down by nine points. They fought exceedingly hard to make this intense matchup somewhat close. The Bucks were down 91-90 with 24 seconds left in the third when D’Angelo Russell nailed a three, then Austin Reaves drove in a layup to give LA a six-point lead with 12 minutes remaining in the game.
Milwaukee would finally recapture the lead in this matchup when there were two and a half minutes left. Pat Connaughton knocked down a huge three-point shot to give the Bucks a 114-112 lead. With Dame Lillard hitting a three-pointer and a free-throw attempt, the Bucks now had a 118-112 lead with less than two minutes on the clock.
D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura both hit three-pointers to make this a 120-118 matchup with a minute left. Giannis would knock down a shot to give the Bucks a four-point lead, then Russell scored on a layup and was fouled, converting a free-throw and the three-point play to make this a 122-121 ballgame. With six seconds remaining, D’Angelo Russell clutched out a huge floater to give the Lakers a one-point lead. Damian Lillard would try to go for the Bucks’ win, as he attempted a mid-range shot, but he was blocked by Spencer Dinwiddie, who sealed the Lakers’ 123-122 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
After the game, Damian Lillard described the team’s initial thoughts on how the final play was going to go down. He gives Dinwiddie props for a last-second blocked shot, and even though he typically tries to get his shot off quicker during these close game situations, this time Dame thought he had time to get his full shot off.
Here is Damian Lillard’s description of that final play: pic.twitter.com/FPNlBDFHkr
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) March 9, 2024
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with a triple-double as he recorded 34 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists along with a steal, and a block. Damian Lillard had 28 points, and 12 assists on 10 of 23 shooting from the floor. For the Los Angeles Lakers, D’Angelo Russell led the team with 44 points as well as having six rebounds, nine assists, and a block. Anthony Davis finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds in the win.
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