Los Angeles Lakers: How to beat Milwaukee Bucks in a potential NBA Finals series

The Los Angeles Lakers were unable to secure a victory against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 19th in a game that was considered a potential NBA Finals preview. If these two contenders were to meet in the playoffs, what would LeBron James and the Lakers need to improve on in order to come out victorious?

Coming into the much-anticipated showdown between the two best teams in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, most assumed that the game would be close throughout.

However, the Los Angeles Lakers were not fully healthy, as they were still without third-year player Kyle Kuzma. To make matters worse, the team was unsure whether or not superstar Anthony Davis would be able to make an appearance in his lone trip to Milwaukee due to an ankle injury that kept him out in their previous game against the Indiana Pacers.

To begin the game, both teams played with passion. Defense was on display early. Unfortunately for the Lakers, they were unable to get their offense going as they were held to just 17 points in the first quarter. The second quarter started even worse. The momentum of the Bucks helped them secure a 21 point lead over the team with the best record in the Western Conference.

In the second half of the game, LeBron James and Anthony Davis were able to get their hands back on the wheel and battle back. The Lakers outscored the Giannis-led Milwaukee Bucks by 12 points in the second half. However, the Lakers comeback came up just short as the team would lose the game 111-104, in a game that never really felt that close.

The Milwaukee Bucks look like the clear-cut favorites in the Eastern Conference thus far, so if the Los Angeles Lakers were to meet Giannis Antetokounmpo in a best-of-seven series for the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June it would not be a shock to anybody.

What will Frank Vogel and the rest of the team need to do to flip the script and come out on top? Let’s take a look.