The Los Angeles Lakers, without Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Jared Vanderbilt hosted Giannis and the Milwaukee Bucks at the Crypto Arena as part of one of the most crucial stretches of the season. Well, without their key players, it was expected that LA would crumble against the Greek Freak and co.
Giannis Antetokounmpo calmly dominated with 28 points, 4 assists, and 7 rebounds in just 29 minutes of play, while Kyle Kuzma and Gary Trent Jr. had themselves a great outing, chipping in 20 and 23, respectively. By the end of the third quarter, the Bucks were already leading by 22 points. Eventually, they easily get the road win, 118-89.
There are only a few games left before the 2024-2025 NBA season concludes, but this matchup was too important for the Lakers in order to keep their top spot in the playoffs. Losing would drastically change their position in the rankings, where they could either finish the season as a no.2 seed or go all the way down to six. Especially in a stacked Western conference with the Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, and the Los Angeles Clippers just a few games behind or ahead the Lakers.
In the playoffs, the Lakers would definitely want to be in the perfect position. One wrong matchup and all of their efforts will turn moot. The Dallas Mavericks had this kind of perfect opportunity last year, where they cruised past the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Both teams would have been good enough to make the NBA Finals, but Dallas just happen to have the perfect counter when the Denver Nuggets, the 2023 champs, were struggling against the very same teams.
However, this wasn’t the highlight fans were drooling over.
With almost every top contributor for the purple and gold sideline due to injuries, the challenge to contain the Bucks was left at the hands of the reserves.
Bronny James played his most minutes on Friday, and certainly made the most out of it. The 20-year-old rookie finished the game with his best performance, recording a career-high 17 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and an efficient 7-for-10 from the field. Lakers rookies Bronny and Dalton Knecht led the team after they both get 17.
Bronny: “People Think I’m a Robot”
Earlier, Bronny finally speaks up about the harsh criticism he constantly gets on social media. Well, that may have struck something in him which resulted to an excellent game against Milwaukee.
The Lakers did lose by 29, but at least Bronny got to have his career game in front of his proud dad and even played against a 2-time MVP.
