The Lakers (23-12) are back home after a quick two-game road trip as they take on the Milwaukee Bucks (16-21) on Friday. Los Angeles aims to complete a season sweep.
Start time and TV schedule
Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Milwaukee
Bucks
When: 7:30 p.m. PT, Jan. 9
Where: Crypto.com Arena
Watch: NBA TV, Spectrum Sportsnet
The Lakers missed the chance to nab the No.2 seed in the Western Conference thanks to their blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Despite that, they’re not sweating it much because head coach JJ Redick and the team believe they’ve been playing better for most of the last six games. The stats prove Redick’s point, but it remains unclear whether this is just an anomaly or something that will persist moving forward.
The good news is it’ll be easy to tell whether the Lakers are indeed playing better in their matchup against the Bucks on Friday. Milwaukee, which is surprisingly the 11th seed, is coming off a tough loss against the Golden State Warriors. They’re 7-12 in road games this season and have yet to win three games in a row. In short, they’re as mediocre as it gets.
Frankly speaking, the Lakers should be able to handle the Bucks. Despite their flawed defense — which now ranks 21st in the league — they should be able to expose Milwaukee’s offense, which averages just 113.3 points per game. The Bucks are also a horrible rebounding team and don’t really score inside the paint, ranking dead last in the league in paint touches (17.7).
What Milwaukee is very good at is 3-point shooting and, of course, depending on their superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who delivers on most nights. Antetokounmpo is currently averaging 29.5 points, 10 rebounds and 5.5. assists per game. The key to beating the Bucks is to limit the Greek Freak’s production and hope they don’t shoot extremely well from downtown. It’s important that the Lakers’ offense overshadows theirs.
For that to happen, Luka Dončić will obviously have to play well. The same goes with LeBron James — who is currently listed as questionable — if he is able to suit up. For as long as Austin Reaves is out, these two superstars can’t have many bad games if the Lakers want to win.
Hopefully, Deandre Ayton bounces back from his lackluster performance last game because he’s going to have his hands full with Antetokounmpo inside the paint. This one will also be a battle between which supporting cast shows up and, for the Lakers, it’ll be nice to see Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart continue to set the tone.
With a relatively beatable opponent coming into the building, it’s important that the Lakers capitalize and get back to playing consistent winning basketball. Let’s see if they can win the season series against Antetokounmpo and the Bucks on Friday.
Notes and Updates
- For the Lakers’ injury report, there are some notable updates. Rui Hachimura (right calf strain) might just make his return to the lineup as he’s now listed as questionable. LeBron (left foot joint arthritis and right sciatica) is questionable.
- Austin Reaves (left calf strain) and Adou Thiero (right MCL sprain) remain out.
- As for the Bucks, Taurean Prince (neck surgery) is out.
You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.
