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After winning eight games in a row and 20 of 24, the Los Angeles Lakers found themselves on a two-game losing skid going into their matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday. Once again, they were short-handed, as all of their frontcourt starters — LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes — were not in action.
Going up against a Milwaukee team that is looking to hold on to fourth place in the Eastern Conference, the Lakers were in trouble, and they got plenty of it on Thursday.
The first quarter was relatively competitive, but L.A. fell behind by double digits in the second quarter despite making a couple of runs and trailed 71-63 at halftime. It only got worse afterward, as the Bucks outscored the Purple and Gold 31-19 in the third quarter and cruised to a 126-106 victory.
Defense was a big problem for the Lakers in this game. They allowed Milwaukee to shoot 42.5% from 3-point range, and Milwaukee also had 15 second-chance points and 15 more free throw attempts than the Lakers. Its bench also killed the Lakers by scoring 45 points, while L.A.'s reserves only mustered 20 points.
Perhaps Los Angeles was simply too small and thin to win with its starting frontcourt unable to play.
Finney-Smith returned after missing Monday's game against the Brooklyn Nets. He didn't have a good outing, as he shot just 2-of-8 from the field and 1-of-5 from 3-point range, and other than his five points, his only positive contribution was one rebound. Defensively, he did help hold Giannis Antetokounmpo to 24 points, while former Laker Kyle Kuzma made just two of his nine shot attempts and scored just five points of his own.
Len got another start with Hayes unable to play due to a knee contusion, but he didn't do much to help the Lakers' cause. He had two points on 1-of-3 shooting, three rebounds and one assist in 19 minutes, and he allowed Brook Lopez, Milwaukee's starting center, to go off for 23 points on 8-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from downtown. Len had trouble rotating back to Lopez after trying to defend the paint, while allowing Lopez to get hot from the outside.
Vincent went just 3-of-10 from the field and missed all five of his 3-point attempts on Thursday. Defensively, he didn't do a terrible job on Damian Lillard, but he didn't successfully contain Lillard either. The Bucks All-Star guard shot 6-of-14 overall and had 22 points plus 10 assists and six rebounds.
In his fourth game back from a calf ailment, Reaves finally looked like himself again. He tried to get the Lakers back into this game by making 10 of his 17 shot attempts and going 4-of-7 from downtown to score 28 points, and he also grabbed eight rebounds and added three assists. All but two of his points came after the first quarter.
He did a good job of attacking the paint via the dribble, and he seemed to have a pep in his step and some confident body language once again.
It looks like the Lakers can expect opposing teams to trap Doncic on the perimeter on a regular basis moving forward. Perhaps the Bucks doing just that was a factor in him committing six of the Lakers' 13 turnovers.
Other than that, Doncic was simply fantastic. He scored 16 points in the first quarter and 29 in the first half as he tried his darndest to give the Lakers a chance to win. He was hitting from throughout the court, and he ended up hitting 14 of 27 shot attempts and seven of 13 3-point tries to score 45 points. He was also the one Lakers player who consistently got to the charity stripe, as he attempted 12 free throws and made 10 of them.
The Slovenian also pulled down 11 rebounds and added three assists, two steals and one block in 36 minutes despite being banged up. Despite the loss, it may have been his best performance during his short time with the Lakers.
Knecht did a fine job off the bench in 22 minutes on Thursday. He hit four of his seven field-goal attempts and half of his four attempts from downtown to score 10 points, and he also helped out with five rebounds and three assists.
After a very strong game on Monday, Goodwin didn't make a major impact versus Milwaukee. He went scoreless and had four rebounds, three assists and one block in 26 minutes.
In 15 minutes of playing time, Vanderbilt grabbed three rebounds, scored four points and added one assist.
Koloko, a center who is on a two-way contract, got his first playing time with the big-league Lakers since February 12. He made one of his three shot attempts to score two points, and while he blocked two shots, he didn't get a single rebound in 15 minutes.
Morris, a veteran big man the Lakers acquired in the Doncic deal last month, made a rare appearance. He attempted four shots and hit one of them for a 3-pointer, and he also contributed two assists and one rebound in 12 minutes.
Milton played four minutes with the outcome already settled. He went scoreless after missing both of his shot attempts, and he had one rebound and one steal.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: L.A. gets mauled by Bucks, loses third in a row
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Going up against a Milwaukee team that is looking to hold on to fourth place in the Eastern Conference, the Lakers were in trouble, and they got plenty of it on Thursday.
The first quarter was relatively competitive, but L.A. fell behind by double digits in the second quarter despite making a couple of runs and trailed 71-63 at halftime. It only got worse afterward, as the Bucks outscored the Purple and Gold 31-19 in the third quarter and cruised to a 126-106 victory.
Defense was a big problem for the Lakers in this game. They allowed Milwaukee to shoot 42.5% from 3-point range, and Milwaukee also had 15 second-chance points and 15 more free throw attempts than the Lakers. Its bench also killed the Lakers by scoring 45 points, while L.A.'s reserves only mustered 20 points.
Perhaps Los Angeles was simply too small and thin to win with its starting frontcourt unable to play.
Dorian Finney-Smith: C
Finney-Smith returned after missing Monday's game against the Brooklyn Nets. He didn't have a good outing, as he shot just 2-of-8 from the field and 1-of-5 from 3-point range, and other than his five points, his only positive contribution was one rebound. Defensively, he did help hold Giannis Antetokounmpo to 24 points, while former Laker Kyle Kuzma made just two of his nine shot attempts and scored just five points of his own.
Alex Len: D
Len got another start with Hayes unable to play due to a knee contusion, but he didn't do much to help the Lakers' cause. He had two points on 1-of-3 shooting, three rebounds and one assist in 19 minutes, and he allowed Brook Lopez, Milwaukee's starting center, to go off for 23 points on 8-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from downtown. Len had trouble rotating back to Lopez after trying to defend the paint, while allowing Lopez to get hot from the outside.
Gabe Vincent: D
Vincent went just 3-of-10 from the field and missed all five of his 3-point attempts on Thursday. Defensively, he didn't do a terrible job on Damian Lillard, but he didn't successfully contain Lillard either. The Bucks All-Star guard shot 6-of-14 overall and had 22 points plus 10 assists and six rebounds.
Austin Reaves: A
In his fourth game back from a calf ailment, Reaves finally looked like himself again. He tried to get the Lakers back into this game by making 10 of his 17 shot attempts and going 4-of-7 from downtown to score 28 points, and he also grabbed eight rebounds and added three assists. All but two of his points came after the first quarter.
He did a good job of attacking the paint via the dribble, and he seemed to have a pep in his step and some confident body language once again.
Luka Doncic: A-minus
It looks like the Lakers can expect opposing teams to trap Doncic on the perimeter on a regular basis moving forward. Perhaps the Bucks doing just that was a factor in him committing six of the Lakers' 13 turnovers.
Other than that, Doncic was simply fantastic. He scored 16 points in the first quarter and 29 in the first half as he tried his darndest to give the Lakers a chance to win. He was hitting from throughout the court, and he ended up hitting 14 of 27 shot attempts and seven of 13 3-point tries to score 45 points. He was also the one Lakers player who consistently got to the charity stripe, as he attempted 12 free throws and made 10 of them.
The Slovenian also pulled down 11 rebounds and added three assists, two steals and one block in 36 minutes despite being banged up. Despite the loss, it may have been his best performance during his short time with the Lakers.
Dalton Knecht: B-plus
Knecht did a fine job off the bench in 22 minutes on Thursday. He hit four of his seven field-goal attempts and half of his four attempts from downtown to score 10 points, and he also helped out with five rebounds and three assists.
Jordan Goodwin: C-minus/C
After a very strong game on Monday, Goodwin didn't make a major impact versus Milwaukee. He went scoreless and had four rebounds, three assists and one block in 26 minutes.
Jarred Vanderbilt: C-plus/B-minus
In 15 minutes of playing time, Vanderbilt grabbed three rebounds, scored four points and added one assist.
Christian Koloko: D-plus
Koloko, a center who is on a two-way contract, got his first playing time with the big-league Lakers since February 12. He made one of his three shot attempts to score two points, and while he blocked two shots, he didn't get a single rebound in 15 minutes.
Markieff Morris: B-minus
Morris, a veteran big man the Lakers acquired in the Doncic deal last month, made a rare appearance. He attempted four shots and hit one of them for a 3-pointer, and he also contributed two assists and one rebound in 12 minutes.
Shake Milton: Incomplete
Milton played four minutes with the outcome already settled. He went scoreless after missing both of his shot attempts, and he had one rebound and one steal.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: L.A. gets mauled by Bucks, loses third in a row
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