Los Angeles- The Los Angeles Clippers squandered a 15-point third-quarter lead and fell at the hands of the Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks 113-106.
Damian Lillard scored 41 points on 12 of 22 shooting from the field for 54% stretched the floor and nailed four of nine from the three-point line.
James Harden and Paul George both rebounded from a rough shooting night in Minnesota and scored 29 points each.
“Dame came out and set the tone early for this team,” Head Coach Tyronn Lue said after the game.
Damian Lillard scored 15 points in the opening quarter. Milwaukee shot 46% in the first half and went 7 of 18 from the three-point line for 38%.
The Clippers shot 52% from the field in the first half and 50% from behind the arc on 6 of 12 shooting.
Los Angeles led 55 to 48 at the end of the first half.
The Clippers were in control for most of the third quarter and grew their lead to as many as 15 points.
To give Los Angeles a different look, Milwaukee switched to a zone and Ty Lue felt like his team didn’t adjust well to it. “When they went to that zone, I think we got a little jump shot-happy rather than keep attacking the basket and getting into the paint,” Lue said. “I think we were in the bonus pretty early in the fourth quarter. They did a good job of going to the zone, and then we didn’t handle it well.”
The Clippers struggled shooting from the field, they shot 36% in the second half making 16 of 44 attempts and shooting 35% from three-point range after going 10 of 28.
Bobby Portis provided a spark for the Bucks scoring 14 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter to help Milwaukee take the lead with 4:10 left and not look back.
Los Angeles looking to return to their pre-All-Star break form will head to Houston next to face a tough Rockets team.
