The Lakers’ two stars, LeBron James and Luka Doncic, have carried the Lakers to a strong start this season, being the leaders.
But on Friday night, James and Doncic couldn’t hold it down for the Lakers, both making late miscues that led to a 105-101 lossto the Milwaukee Bucks at Crypto.com Arena. It was the Lakers’ first loss in a clutch game after 13 such wins to start the season.
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Doncic fouled the Bucks’ Kevin Porter Jr. shooting a three-pointer with 16.2 seconds left and the score tied. Worse, it was Doncic’s sixth foul of the game.
Porter made two of three free throws to give the Bucks a 103-101 lead.
The Lakers put the ball in James’ hands for the final shot, but he turned the ball over on a drive, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo poking the ball away from behind. Porter made two more free throws with 0.6 seconds left to seal it.
James had scored 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, pulling the Lakers along with him while finishing with 10 assists and nine rebounds. But he was blocked by Antetokounmpo in the final minute with the game tied, and that turnover in the closing seconds hurt.
Lakers guard Luka Doncic, center, makes a backwards pass over Bucks guard AJ Green (20) during the first half Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Doncic finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists but was just eight for 25 from the field, his worst shooting performance at home this season.
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The Lakers (23-13) played their fourth game this week, at times looking sluggish because of the workload. They had routed the Bucks in Milwaukee in November, but this game would be much tighter.
It was the kind of night in which Doncic picked up his fifth foul with 2.1 seconds left in the third quarter.
He had scored 12 points in the third, doing all he could to keep the Lakers within range of the Bucks, down 86-77 entering the fourth. He was four for nine in the quarter after shooting three for 12 in the first half.
The Lakers trailed by as many as 12 in the second quarter while looking a bit slow. But James scored their final five points, on a three-pointer and a dunk, to pull the Lakers to within nine at the half.
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Read more: Luka Doncic has a triple-double, but LeBron-less Lakers lose to Spurs
So much — if not all — of the Lakers’ game plan was focused on trying to deal with the nearly unstoppable force that is Antetokounmpo.
And much of that job went to center Deandre Ayton, whom the Lakers felt was best equipped to handle the assignment because of his 7-foot size, length and strength.
But it also was going to take the Lakers as a group to slow down Antetokounmpo, who finished with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Jarred Vanderbilt gave the Lakers a big effort with nine points and nine rebounds off the bench, and his usual tough defense.
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By halftime the Lakers had done a good job of slowing down Antetokounmpo, limiting him to 12 points. But he was six for six from the field in 13 minutes. He also had three rebounds and three assists.
Hachimura update
Lakers forward Rui Hachimura missed his sixth consecutive game because of right calf soreness. Hachimura has been working out and there is some hope that he can play Monday night in Sacramento.
“He’s made a lot of progress just in terms of regaining strength and mobility in his calf and had a good workout today,” coach JJ Redick said. “There’s a lot of optimism that he’ll be available Monday, but we’ll see how the next few days go.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
