The Milwaukee Bucks play the Lakers on Friday night at Staples Center.
No one said it was going to be easy. Trying to lose while trying to compete is a herculean task only because it is not in the nature of professional athletes to turn off their competitive motor, regardless of how upsetting it is to the fans to be bystanders to dreams falling apart. For the Lakers players who have endured the brutality of this season, victories against the Celtics and the Jazz, while clearly not juggernaut teams, reinforced their sense of pride and worth. It reminded them that with desire and execution they can compete at a high level and win. Besides, no one who puts on a Lakers jersey and takes the court in February cares about what happens on May 19th, the draft lottery. The players focus is on open audition season and securing a job come fall.
The Milwaukee Bucks come into Staples Center with their athletic, defensive team. They added Michael Carter-Williams at the trade deadline and got rid of Brandon Knight, a restricted free agent they were not going to pay max dollars to. Carter-Williams, an above-average point guard, is not in the class of Jeff Teague, Damian Lillard or Mike Conley, but he is being coached by one of the greatest point guards of his era, Jason Kidd. The problem with Carter-Williams is that he can’t make jump shots or free-throws. He has decent court vision but his skill is creating defensive havoc as his long arms and quickness can shut down opposing back court players.
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Jordan Clarkson matched up against Carter-Williams will be one of the keys to watch. Clarkson had a brilliant game against the Jazz as he controlled the tempo and had a good shooting night. The length and defense of Carter-Williams will be one more test to see how Clarkson handles himself against a young, athletic point guard, someone his age. It will be one more metric in judging how far Clarkson has grown and how far he has to go.
The Bucks best player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, is long, explosive, a great shooter (49%), a fantastic defender and has an ability to get into the lane without being stopped. The Lakers best defense against him is denying him the ball. The other Bucks, (O.J. Mayo, Khris Middleton, Ersan Ilyasova) are better as a collective unit than as individual assets that can beat you. But, all of the Bucks-and credit Jason Kidd for this- play defense and move the ball for high percentage shots.
The Bucks are are one of the highest ball movement teams in the NBA, ranked 7th, but their biggest weakness, as the Lakers discovered when they played them in the beginning of February, was their rebounding. Ed Davis had 20 rebounds for the Lakers, more than half of what the entire Bucks team rebounded (35).
The last time the teams played each other, O.J. Mayo drained a corner three to send the game into overtime after Byron Scott elected not to foul. In overtime, Brandon Knight took over the game and the Lakers lost by 8 points. The Lakers defense was atrocious, allowing four Bucks players 20+ points, something Milwaukee had not done in 5 years. For the Lakers, Carlos Boozer had a season high 28 points. Their loss in Milwaukee was their 8th loss in a row on the road.
This is the Lakers last game of February. In the month, they have had three overtime games, six games on the road, a losing streak of 7, a winning streak of 2, their first road win of 2015, a game in which they gave up 120 points (Cleveland) and a game in which they scored 80 points (Knicks).
In February, the Lakers averaged the most offensive rebounds (14) and total rebounds (46) of any month and the most steals (8).
Jordan Clarkson (14 points, 4 assists, 45% field goals) and Carlos Boozer (15 points, 7 rebounds, 46% field goals) have been the Lakers best players in February. Ryan Kelly (7 points, 3 rebounds, 32% field goals) has been their worst.