Bucks blow big fourth quarter lead
First, LeBron James was ruled out with an ankle injury before the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers even arrived at Fiserv Forum on Tuesday night.
Then, the Bucks took 19-point leads in the first and fourth quarters.
It didn’t feel like a double-overtime, back-and-forth thriller was anywhere near the offing. But that’s what happened as the Lakers rallied from those deficits to pull out a 128-124 comeback victory.
After from blowing a 94-75 lead in the final 8 minutes, 25 seconds of regulation, the Bucks had a chance to win it at the end of regulation when Khris Middleton lobbed an inbound pass to Giannis Antetokounmpo. It’s a play the duo could run with their eyes closed at this stage of their career, and it rarely leads to anything other than a dunk or free throws. But as Antetokounmpo tried to spin around Lakers forward Anthony Davis, he lost his balance. He recovered in time to catch the ball, but his only attempt at a shot was a creative layup attempt. It fell off the rim.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think Khris threw the ball. I went up to get the ball. I really don’t want to get fined. I went up to get the ball. For some reason I wasn’t able to get the ball and wasn’t able to end the game.”
Then in overtime, the Bucks had a 117115 lead with 3.6 seconds left in the first overtime. But, they were whistled for a foul and D’Angelo Russell tied the game at 117 with 3.1 to go. Damian Lillard’s game-winning layup attempt was then blocked by Davis.
In the second overtime, the Bucks had a 121-119 lead with 1:21 to go, but they were called for a foul and Spencer Dinwiddie tied the game with two free throws with 1:17 left.
“We gotta trust our defense to play without fouling,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said. “But, give them credit. They were attacking. They were aggressive. And they’re smart.”
After Antetokounmpo missed a tough fadeaway over Davis off the front of the rim, the Bucks defense lost Austin Reaves who knocked down a set, wideopen three-pointer to give the Lakers a 124-121 lead.
“Miscommunication on pick-androlls,” Rivers said. “It happens. It just shouldn’t at that point.”
After Lillard missed a three-pointer and Antetokounmpo missed two free throws, Russell knocked down two more free throws for a 126-124 lead. Davis added two more free throws for the final margin.
“I think it was more on us for the most part,” Middleton said. “Just gotta be better, man. It was one of those games. But, it’s a great game to learn from.”
Free throw disparity favors Lakers
On the night, the Bucks were called for 26 personal fouls to the Lakers’ 13. Davis wasn’t called for his first personal foul until his 50th minute of the game, which was in the second overtime.
The Bucks shot 17 free throws as a team, making 11 (64.7%). The Lakers, by contrast, were a remarkable 30 of 32 overall from the free throw line (93.8%).
But, Rivers and the Bucks were not about to lay anything at the feet of the officials.
“I know I had a bad foul, I think somebody else had a bad foul maybe,” Middleton said of a couple of tough overtime whistles against his team. “Just gotta stay with discipline, gotta adjust to what the refs are calling at our end vs. the other.”
Added Lillard: “I think sometimes it’s just like that.” Lillard fouled out after scoring 27 points on 9 of 29 shooting, including 3 of 14 from behind the threepoint line. Middleton had five fouls and scored 12 points on 4 of 15 shooting and handed out seven assists.
Davis played 52 of a possible 58 minutes, scoring 34 points on 12 of 31 shooting. He also had 23 rebounds and went 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Reaves had 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. Russell had 29 points and went 10-for-10 from the free throw line. He added 12 assists.
Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 29 points, 21 rebounds and 11 assists. He also had three blocks, two steals and seven turnovers.
Malik Beasley had 21 points and Bobby Portis added 18 off the bench for Milwaukee.
Fourth quarter bogs down Bucks
For about 46 minutes, it never really felt like the Bucks were in danger of losing their grip on the outcome of the game. The Bucks led by as many as 19 in the first quarter, but the Lakers would eventually whittle that down to as few as six or seven over the second and third quarters.
Yet each time, the Bucks would respond with a key bucket coupled with stops and would lead by double figures in short order. So even while the Lakers were in the game, they never felt on the verge of taking it.
Until the Bucks helped them out with a ragged run of fourth quarter possessions that began after taking a 94-75 lead at the 8:25 mark.
Los Angeles went on a protracted 16-2 run that saw Antetokounmpo turn it over three times, but a Beasley bucket and a three-pointer by Middleton made it 101-93 with 3:08 to go it appeared as if they once again stemmed the tide. But it was just the third made shot in 10 tries.
“Wasn’t moving the ball,” Antetokounmpo said. “Start of the game we moved the ball really well, side to side. There was a lot of people that was touching the ball. I think in the last couple minutes of the game it was line one pass, shot. A lot of iso game. Now, I don’t think that was the intention. They did a good job of just playing good defense, switching, having us play one-on-one. We didn’t move the ball at all so we weren’t able to move them side-to-side, and if you don’t move a team like that side-to-side it’s hard to score on them.”
But the Bucks wouldn’t score again, falling into the trap of isolation basketball and not moving the ball. Antetokounmpo (0-for-3), Middleton (0-for-3) and Lillard (0-for-1) missed every shot down the stretch.
“I thought when we hurt ‘em most the ball was moving,” Lillard said. “It was like first side, second side – the ball was dictating where the shot was. I think down the stretch we all kind of held onto it a little bit more. I know I held on to it a little bit more than I probably should have at times. Same thing with Khris and I think with Giannis. We all just kind of wanted to right the ship and was trying to be aggressive and attack and I think it ended up hurting us in the end.”
That allowed the Lakers to outscore them 27-13 and eventually tie the game to send it to overtime.
First quarter was the way the Bucks want to play
Against Oklahoma City, the Bucks turned the game in the third quarter when they forced the Thunder into 13 straight missed field goals to open the quarter. Against Los Angeles, the Bucks set the tone right from the beginning of the game.
The Lakers missed their first five shots, then 9 of 10, then 13 of 15 and then 15 of 19.
Led by Antetokounmpo’s six defensive rebounds, Milwaukee cleaned the glass and built a 29-10 lead over the first nine minutes of the quarter.
“We did what was working (vs. Oklahoma City), tonight we just couldn’t get back to playing with pace,” Middleton said. “It think that’s just the thing I can from the most. When we built the lead we were playing with pace, playing fast, got wide open shots. Second half they slowed us a down a little bit, a little more physical. Still got great looks, but wasn’t the same looks.”
It was a margin they needed all of as the Lakers never folded and eventually forced overtime.
Malik Beasley comes up big
Bucks shooting guard Malik Beasley helped force overtime by doing his best Brook Lopez impression on a D’Angelo Russell drive with just 13.2 seconds left in regulation, blocking Russell’s shot.
Rivers then challenged the initial ruling that the ball went off the Bucks, giving Milwaukee a chance to win the game at the end of regulation.
Then in overtime, Beasley hit 2 three-pointers – including a game-tying triple with 1:28 to go to help the Bucks reach a second extra session.