Four players score 20+ in Milwaukee’s blowout win over Los Angeles
In their third nationally televised game in a row, the Milwaukee Bucks showed the country what they are capable of, taking down the Luka Doncic-led Los Angeles Lakers, 126-106. Four players scored 20+, with Giannis going for another 20+ point double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Kevin Porter Jr. had 22 on 5/6 shooting from three-point range, while Brook Lopez dropped in 23. Luka threw it back to his Maverick days, going for 45 points and 11 rebounds. Austin Reaves was one of only two other Laker players to score 10+ points (rookie Dalton Knecht had 10) with 28 points on 10/17 shooting from the floor. Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.
What Did We Learn?
The Bucks’ bench backcourt can be a force to be reckoned with. To start the season, not much was known about how well the backup guards would play behind then-starter Gary Trent Jr. and Damian Lillard. Would AJ Green and Delon Wright be a solid enough pairing together to spell the two former Portland Trail Blazers? Well, it turns out they weren’t, but not totally for the reasons you’re thinking. First of all, Trent was benched and they rotated different starters at the two, but he has seen much success coming off the pine. Who knew that after trying Ryan Rollins as the backup point guard, that the one they were looking for came in a trade deadline buzzer beater to finally be rid of MarJon Beauchamp. The duo of the juniors displayed what they could do together and what they bring individually, with the pair combining for 38 points.
“He was great (KPJ), he gets down hill, he’s really shooting the ball well for us right now as well and he’s really starting to buy-in to what we need him to do defensively,” Doc Rivers said. “I’ve been blessed as a coach, I’ve had a lot of guys (who can fill it up), I’ve always asked front offices for a flamethrower. I’ve had Jamal Crawford, I’ve had Lou Williams, so I’ve had a plethora of guys who can do that. When you have guys who can do that, it just gives you a boost and that’s what guys are doing for us.”
The 23-7 Run
While the Bucks did have a few double-digit leads during the first half, Luka Doncic always found a way to keep the Lakers within striking distance. After the Lakers trimmed it to a six-point deficit early in the third quarter, the Bucks turned it around thanks to a 23-7 run. The run ballooned the Bucks’ lead to 22 points and effectively ended any chance at a Lakers comeback. Here are the three best plays from the run.
Prime Brook Lopez was in full effect tonight on both ends of the court.
As much as he has been criticized this season at nearly 37 years old, Lopez can still bring some of his vintage play in big moments. After Giannis hit a mid-range shot over Alex Len to get the lead back to eight points, Lopez swats away Len’s layup, leading to a fast break and-one layup for Giannis on the other end. Lopez finished his night with 23 points on 8/9 shooting and four blocked shots. The Bucks are going to need a lot more of this Lopez moving forward to the playoffs in just over a month.
Letting Dame get to the rack can only mean bad things if you’re playing defense.
We all know how tremendous of a shooter Damian Lillard is. Along with Stephen Curry, he’s one of the best long-range shooters in NBA history. What truly makes him a truly tough cover, though, is that he can put it on the deck and create shots at the rim for himself. With the Lakers depleted in their front court, it made sense for anyone and everyone to attack, and that’s what Dame does here. After getting a screen from Lopez, he splits the pseudo double team that Doncic brings up (which he really doesn’t commit to) which allows him to get a good head of steam to the rim. Despite the help from Jordan Goodwin and Austin Reaves, Lillard finishes with ease to bring the Bucks’ lead up to 15 points.
This was just icing on the cake for Kevin Porter Jr in the third.
Every time I watch Kevin Porter Jr play, I still don’t understand how the Bucks got him for nothing after the Clippers cut MarJon Beauchamp. After the backup point guard position was held by two-way player Ryan Rollins, KPJ has taken that role and run with it. He’s even getting in lineups as the shooting guard next to Dame. Tonight was the best of what Porter can bring you, with a 5/7 three-point display, with this one capping off his impressive night. While the playoff basketball is a different beast, and Porter has never seen those bright lights, if he can rise to that occasion, the Bucks will have a vital bench piece they can rely on to spell and play with Dame.
“It shows the work, it shows the dynamic that I bring. I’m coming off the bench and being able to play off-ball, on-ball when needed. You know when Giannis and Dame are out there I don’t have to be as ball dominant, so I want to use my spacing and cutting,” Porter said. “But tonight they gave me a lot of wide-open threes and I worked too hard to pass those up, that’s my bread and butter.”
Bonus Bucks Bits
- Prior to last night’s game, the Bucks held a brief moment of silence to honor Bucks minority owner and former player Junior Bridgeman. Bridgeman passed away on Tuesday from a medical emergency. Players and coaches alike talked about his impact both on and off the court for the Milwaukee Bucks and the NBA as a whole. Dame had this to say:
“When you look at the history of our league, there’s a lot of guys you think of for reasons on the court, for reasons off the court in the community there’s a lot of guys you can look at for certaint things. I think for him for a guy who had a career in the NBA, wasn’t a guy who’s name jumped off the page as a player for everybody, but then to move on from being an NBA player to have the type of success he had as a buisness man and being a successful man, I think that just means a lot.”
And here are Doc’s thoughts:
“One of the things I keep thinking about with Junior, we have the Magics and the LeBrons, guys who have become billionaires, but a lot of that they started with huge salaries. The norm of the league is Junior Bridgeman and the fact that he can do what he did with making 300 grand was the most he made, which isn’t bad, but it doesn’t get you a million—Marquette math. The fact that he could do it and the way he did it, piece-by-piece.”
- Jericho Sims had one of his best games as a Milwaukee Buck, as he grabbed 10 rebounds and had two alley-oop slams on passes from Dame. Lillard told a story post game on how the two have developed their chemistry together.
“He’s another guy I’ve had a lot of dialogue with. I remember, I think we were playing Minnesota before the All-Star break and I didn’t play in that game. We were both lifting at the same time, it was just us, and I was like ‘do you ever talk?’ He just started smiling and he was like ‘yea I do’ and I was like ‘I’ve never even heard you talk and you’ve been here a couple of days.’ I asked him what do you go by, I’m not gonna call you Jericho everytime I call your name and he was like “J-Rock or Jumpman’ and I was like ‘I will never call you Jumpman, there is only one person I’m going to acknowledge as Jumpman’ and we laughed about it and that was the ice breaker.”
- Don’t ever let the Milwaukee Bucks score 120+ points, because they have been nearly perfect when they do, boasting a league best 24-1 record this season when they eclipse that mark.
- The Bucks had four players score 20+ points tonight, marking the first time this season they’ve had 4+ players reach the 20-point mark in the same game. Milwaukee’s four 20-point scorers tonight ties the franchise-high for most players with 20+ points in the same game, and it’s the 46th such game in franchise history.
- Damian Lillard scored 22 points and dished out a game-high 10 assists in tonight’s game to log his second straight double-double. It’s the fifth time this season he’s had double-doubles in back-to-back games, and he’s now tallied 13 overall this season.
Up Next
The Bucks host the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, giving them their chance to avenge their Tuesday loss in Indianapolis. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CDT, and you can catch it all on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin, or you can stream it on our Playback and YouTube channels.
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