LOS ANGELES — If the Lakers remember one particular moment from Thursday night’s tilt, it might just be a second-quarter possession, when Austin Reaves found himself one-on-one with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Rather than step back and shoot over the 6-foot-11 forward, or simply pass out of an isolation against the 2020 Defensive Player of the Year, Reaves took a dribble, then crossed up the two-time league MVP, finishing with a right-handed layup off the glass.
It was that kind of audacity that motivated the Lakers on a short-handed night, when they suited up just nine players to line up against the Milwaukee Bucks. And while they eventually finished with a 115-106 loss, the Lakers (25-31) – even without five players that they traded in the past 36 hours and a resting LeBron James – put on a show against the hottest team in the NBA.
James sat out to rest his sore left ankle and foot two nights after he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s career scoring leader.
Dennis Schröder had a team-high 25 points and 12 assists, Anthony Davis had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and the Lakers even led from the first quarter until midway through the third.
They crossed him up now and then, but they couldn’t overcome Antetokounmpo who had 38 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. He got the red-hot Bucks (38-17), now winners of nine consecutive games, going in the third for a 38-23 advantage.
While the Lakers tied it briefly at 94 on a Schröder 3-pointer with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, Grayson Allen immediately struck back with a 3-pointer of his own. They never really sniffed the lead again.
Survivors of the trade deadline, Reaves (18 points) and Lonnie Walker IV (15 points) sparked the offense from the bench. But without James or the recently traded Russell Westbrook, the Lakers’ transition offense ground to a halt: They scored just two fast-break points.
The Lakers have now lost three games in a row with just three more left before…
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