Without LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers still have some things to figure out. On Thursday, the Milwaukee Bucks cruised to a 126-106 win over the James-less Lakers, picking up an easy 20-point win at home.
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With James still out with a groin strain, Luka Dončić did his best to take over, dropping 45 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. The stat line was his highest point total in a Lakers uniform, but it wasn’t enough to overcome an early Bucks lead.
Things were relatively close for the first half, with the Bucks getting the slight edge from the start. Milwaukee pulled to a double-digit lead in the second quarter, but the Lakers went on a 10-0 run to cut into that deficit. Dončić hit a nasty step-back 3 to get Los Angeles within two points.
But the Bucks started to pull away again, fending off another Lakers comeback to take a 71-63 lead at halftime. Things only got better for Milwaukee (and worse for Los Angeles) from there: By the end of the third quarter, the Bucks’ lead had grown to 20 points.
The fourth quarter was more even, but Milwaukee’s lead was too big for Los Angeles to overcome. The Bucks ended up with the 126-106 win.
It wasn’t quite the Antetokounmpo-Dončić matchup that some might have been hoping for. Antetokounmpo finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds after a slow first half. While he got his footing, Kevin Porter Jr. led the Bucks in scoring, getting 25 points off the bench — including six 3-pointers.
Even in the loss, Dončić was dominant for the Lakers, getting 29 points in the first half. But he alone couldn’t carry the short-handed team.
The loss marks the third straight for Los Angeles, and the second loss without James. James, who suffered his injury Saturday, is set to be out for a week or two, pending further evaluation. In the meantime, the Lakers will have to find a way to make things work in his absence: The team has four games in the next week, including two games against the Denver Nuggets.
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