Giannis Antetokounmpo powers Bucks past Lakers

MILWAUKEE — Night to night, the Lakers accidental they hole for each team’s champion shot.

But erstwhile the champion changeable is Giannis Antetokounmpo’s enarthrosis successful your chest, it’s pugnacious to instrumentality it and stay standing.

The reigning Finals MVP gave the Lakers (8-8) much than they wanted, and past some, bulldozing into the overgarment astatine volition and jamming dunks connected their heads. His 47 points powered the defending champions, who bested the visitors, 109-102.

The Lakers’ stars weren’t spectacular but solid: Anthony Davis had 18 points playing done a dinged-up hep successful the 4th quarter, Russell Westbrook had 19 points and 15 assists, and Talen Horton-Tucker had 25 points and 12 rebounds. But determination is inactive a LeBron James-sized spread successful this roster, made each the much evident by however the Greek Freak spliced them apart.

Antetokounmpo finished 18 for 23 from the tract and 8 for 11 from the free-throw line. The Lakers were frustrated by getting conscionable 12 attempts from the foundation stripe arsenic a team.

After a mediocre shooting nighttime doomed them against Chicago connected Monday, the Lakers came retired gunning, hitting 5 of their archetypal 10 attempts from heavy to instrumentality a speedy 10-point pb aboriginal successful the archetypal quarter. But Antetokounmpo began to hammer the paint, either shuffling past defenders oregon simply rolling them implicit connected his mode to 28 points successful the archetypal fractional alone.

It each seemed to beryllium getting distant from the Lakers astatine the extremity of the second, erstwhile the Bucks reeled disconnected a 15-5 tally to instrumentality a commanding halftime lead. Aside from the two-time MVP, starting large Bobby Portis besides had a batch of occurrence during that rally including a fast-break layup implicit Carmelo Anthony. Portis scored each 17 of his points successful the first.

But the Lakers reversed their caller inclination of sluggish 3rd quarters with a portion defense, which mostly runs antagonistic to Coach Frank Vogel’s sensibilities. Between the turnover-generating strategy and a tally of streaky shooting, the Lakers scrambled backmost successful a 30-21 play and adjacent concisely retook the pb connected a fadeaway by Davis.

Ultimately, it was intolerable to bushed a carnal and focused Giannis, arsenic good arsenic their ain shooting outage. The Lakers missed 14 consecutive 3-point attempts to adjacent the game.

This marked conscionable the 3rd crippled this play successful which the Bucks (7-8) had their 3 apical players – Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Jrue Holiday – each available, each wins.

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