Los Angeles Lakers bounce back in win over the Milwaukee Bucks

The Los Angeles Lakers looked to bounce back from a bad loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday. In this game, LeBron and AD came out aggressive along with another shooter that ended Milwaukee’s chances!

For now, the Los Angeles Lakers have righted the ship. After letting go of the rope against the Golden State Warriors in a loss on MLK Day holiday, the Lakers looked so much more focused winning a 113-106 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. The team played like this was a hyped-up matchup with LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo on the marquee.

Two more things are evident when it comes to the Los Angeles Lakers.

• Number one, the Lakers still have their “Road Warrior” beatdown tour. They still haven’t lost on the road this year.
• Number two, the Lakers refuse to lose two games in a row. 

The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:

The Lakers’ superstars actually put up scoring numbers early.

What a concept right? The superstar tandem of LeBron James and Anthony Davis having to get established early to set the offensive tone. Both players only finished with 19 points on 6-16 shooting against the Warriors. They almost matched those numbers by halftime.

• LeBron scored 17 points on 6-12 shooting in the first half.
• AD scored 13 points on 6-10 shooting in the first half.

They even collaborated on a nice AD pass to LeBron driving the paint for a strong slam dunk.

When these two set the tone offensively, it allowed their teammates to get involved. Neither settled for jumpers. They attacked the defense early and often.

The Los Angeles Lakers were on fire from 3 point range. 

The Lakers were dropping bombs from behind the arc. It started with LeBron James, but the story lies with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He was on fire from distance. Remember he was known as the guy LeBron yelled at for not shooting on Monday. Well, LeBron was not yelling at him after shots like these…

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1352437326039793665

KCP was another starter that had a strong bounce-back game after scoring only 3 points against Golden State. That buzzer-beater before halftime was his third shot from behind the arc alone. That shot closed the half with a 20-8 Lakers run over the last five minutes.

His 3 point barrage didn’t stop in the second half either. KCP was a sniper scoring 23 points.

The defense of Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

Look, everyone knows that Giannis is the two time MVP and the most dominant player in the NBA. But his shooting weaknesses are also well documented.

The Lakers did a great job setting up a wall to the basket and daring him to shoot the ball. It worked for the most part too. Offensive fouls being drawn, slowly drained Giannis’ aggressiveness on the drive. He ended up fouling out with only 25 points.

A good game played by both teams.

This is the very first game on the Lakers schedule where both teams played hard and executed. For the first 15 games, it was either the Lakers fell asleep at the wheel or they blew out teams less talented or interested (Yes, James Harden that means you!). In this game, the Lake Show played better and found the matchups that worked for them and used discipline to exploit it.

The bad of the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:

The Los Angeles Lakers have a grave weakness on defense.

Here’s where analytics hide deficiencies on basketball teams. The Lakers are ranked number one in the NBA by the numbers overall. However, they are ranked 23rd in the league in points allowed in the paint. They got caught on back door plays all game long. Most would think that Giannis Antetokounmpo was dominating the Lakers. However, it was this guy instead.

Jrue Holiday was giving the Lakers the business.

Let us introduce Lakers fans to the only Bucks player that competed. Jrue Holiday played an outstanding game scoring 22 points. He was scoring on both ends.

But in the end, guarding LeBron James down the stretch wore him out. The Bucks refused to send help and James started smoking them to the point of 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Where’s Talen Horton-Tucker? Two DNP-CDs in a row? What did he do wrong?

Just asking for Lakers Nation…

The story of the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:

The Los Angeles Lakers have figured out a way to slow the Greek Freak if they meet the Bucks in the NBA Finals. The Lakers forced numerous charges against Giannis and there should have been at least three more, to be honest.

The defense of this team is very dominant if focused. The Milwaukee Bucks lead the NBA in offensive efficiency and fastbreak points. The Lakers locked up both for the most part in this game.

The Lakers shot 19-37 from 3 point range to the Bucks’ 9-28.

LeBron James did work for 38 minutes and didn’t let up. Play hard every second you’re on the floor and the team wins…

What a concept.

Lake Show Life’s more in-depth breakdowns will come in Lake Show Life Lessons tomorrow. Keep it locked for the only Los Angeles Lakers post-game report with highlights and in-depth analysis.