The Lakers closed their road trip with an impressive win over the Bucks, using a big night from Luka Dončić and a strong defensive effort to down the Bucks, 119-95. LA won both ends of their back-to-back
on Friday and Saturday, beating the Pelicans before traveling to Milwaukee and earning a victory.
Luka poured in 41 points with nine rebounds and six assists. Austin Reaves was a bit quieter until a big fourth quarter, finishing with 25 points and eight assists with six rebounds. Deandre Ayton had a big night around the rim, finishing with 20 points on 9-13 shooting.
Jaxson Hayes finished with 10 points and six rebounds off the bench while Dalton Knecht had nine points and six rebounds. With Marcus Smart and Rui Hachimura both out, Bronny James Jr. got his first start but struggled, playing only seven minutes and attempting only two shots before garbage time.
Adou Thiero also made his season debut, playing two minutes in the first half before garbage time minutes. Maxi Kleber got his first extended rotation minutes of the season, playing 25 minutes and finishing with three points and three assists.
A predictably slow start from both teams — each side was on the second night of a back-to-back — eventually saw a three-point play from Reaves and consecutive 3-pointers from Luka give the Lakers a 13-8 lead.
Luka kept the hot stretch going, accounting for 10 straight points for the Lakers. Behind him, the Lakers went on a 16-2 run that blew the lead open to 13 points at 23-10.
LA went to deep into their roster to find minutes on the final night of their road trip. Late in the first, Thiero checked in, joining Kleber on the court alongside Luka, Dalton Knecht and Jaxson Hayes. It was a lineup that did enough on both ends at the purple and gold led 30-18 at the end of the first.
The visitors maintained the lead in the second behind some nifty dimes by Reaves.
Eventually, the Bucks pieced together a mini run to get back within single digits after a three from Lakers killer Gary Harris. However, LA responded by forcing turnovers, getting into the open court and converting to push the margin back over a dozen.
A fadeaway mid-range jumper from Luka gave LA its largest lead at 45-30 just past the midway point of the quarter. The lead only grew with buckets from Luka and a long-range effort from Knecht as part of a 14-1 run to put LA up 52-31.
Out of a timeout, Luka connected on a 3-pointer before both he and Reaves found Ayton on lobs at the rim for layups as the lead reached 27. It was a 23-2 run after a Luka fadeaway as he fell to the floor.
After the aforementioned Harris 3-pointer with 8:00 to go, the Bucks did not have another field goal the remainder of the half, resulting in a 63-34 halftime lead.
The two sides traded baskets and points to start the second half before the Bucks finally went on their own run, scoring 15 unanswered points until a pair of Luka free throws stopped the run. Still, the lead had shrunk to 18 points.
The Lakers righted the ship by finding Ayton for a pair of lob dunks, giving him 20 points and stymying Milwaukee’s momentum. That allowed the Lakers to maintain their lead while Milwaukee’s offense boiled down to lots of Giannis Antetokounmpo layups and free throws.
Just as the Bucks started to gain some momentum late in the period, Luka connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to, again, take all the sting out of Milwaukee’s run. After Giannis missed a pair of free throws, Luka connected on a runner to give the Lakers a 92-72 lead heading into the fourth.
Much like the third quarter, the Bucks started fast in the fourth quarter and Milwaukee quickly closed the lead down to 13 points, forcing a Lakers timeout. With Luka on the bench, it was Reaves who stepped up with some huge shots, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers to push the lead back to 16 and force Milwaukee into their own timeout.
Out of the break, Myles Turner connected on a three, but Reaves responded again with his third long-range effort of the period. As Luka was at the line for a pair free throws, the officials took away Turner’s 3-pointer after a replay review determined he was out of bounds, extending LA’s lead to 18 points.
The Lakers kept the foot on the gas, particularly defensively, highlighted by a great block and save from Ayton with three minutes remaining and the Lakers up 22, the proverbial nail in the coffin as the benches emptied soon after.
Dunks from Thiero and Knecht were the exclamation point on a great final two nights of the road trip.
