The Milwaukee Bucks will be out to solve their issues on the road when they continue a five-game trip through the Western Conference with a visit to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.
It will be the second meeting between the teams in eight days after the Bucks earned a 126-106 home victory over the Lakers on March 13.
The Bucks (38-30) have played just two of their past eight games on the road but lost both, including a 104-93 defeat to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 20 points but was 5 of 16 from the floor.
Kyle Kuzma, who led Milwaukee with 22 points, has averaged 13.7 points with 6.4 rebounds in 19 games (18 starts) since joining the Bucks at the trade deadline. Kuzma played his first four seasons with the Lakers after he was the 27th overall draft pick in 2017.
“The last couple of games in the fourth quarter, we are trying to be too unselfish instead of going downhill and making something happen,” Antetokounmpo said after the Bucks were outscored 26-17 in the fourth quarter. “If me and (Damian Lillard) aren’t aggressive down the stretch, we don’t execute as well.”
Milwaukee is just 14-18 on the road this season and is the only team among the top six in the Eastern Conference that has a losing record away from its own building.
The Bucks saw the Warriors pull off a 16-0 run between the third and fourth quarters to turn a six-point deficit into a 10-point lead.
“We don’t have the right spacing, the ball’s not moving, we’re not attacking, we’re not getting into the paint,” Milwaukee head coach Doc Rivers said. “I’ve got a whole list. … It’s my job to get them to do it offensively, and to trust. We get into these periods when we just stop trusting.”
In a game missing significant star power Wednesday, the Lakers got the best of the Denver Nuggets by taking a 28-point first-half lead and finishing off a 120-108 victory.
Luka Doncic scored 21 of his 31 points in the first quarter when Los Angeles grabbed an early 46-29 lead. Doncic added eight rebounds, while Austin Reaves added 22 points with eight assists.
“This is kind of what he does and has done throughout his whole career,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said about Doncic’s strong first quarter. “We want him to be aggressive no matter what, but he’s going to play the right way. His teammates have talked about that over the last few days.”
While the Lakers (43-25) were without starters LeBron James (groin) and Rui Hachimura (knee), the Nuggets played without Nikola Jokic (ankle/elbow) and Jamal Murray (ankle). James has missed the past six games, while Hachimura has been out for 11, with both listed as day-to-day.
The Lakers are on a three-game winning streak and have won each of their last nine home games while improving to 28-7 in their own arena. It is the second-best home record in the Western Conference.
“Our group has been awesome at home, they have,” Redick said. “But you have to play the next game and win the game in front of you.”
The large lead Wednesday allowed the Lakers to sit Doncic for the entire fourth quarter while the team is in a stretch of six games in eight days.
–Field Level Media
