The Lakers beat the Bucks 123-112 on Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum, and the win pushed the Los Angeles Lakers to seven straight and a league-best 11-2 record. Luka Doncic scored 32 points, Sandro Mamukelashvili came off the bench for 23 against his former team, and Austin Reaves added 18 in his return from illness as Los Angeles led for almost the entire night and built a lead as large as 24 points.
Milwaukee made it look closer late, winning the fourth quarter 39-29 once the result was settled, but the Bucks fell to 1-11 and lost their eighth game in a row. Tyler Herro scored 27 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 25 for Milwaukee in front of 15,356 fans.
Watch the full game highlights from Milwaukee below, then keep scrolling for the breakdown.
Luka Doncic sets the tone early
The Bucks scored first and jumped ahead 7-2, and that was about as good as the opening stretch got for Milwaukee. The Lakers answered with a 9-0 run, and Doncic did most of the damage in the first quarter, scoring 16 of his 32 points before the first break. Los Angeles led by as many as nine in the period before Milwaukee closed to 30-28 after 12 minutes.
Doncic finished 10-for-25 from the field, 5-for-12 from three and 7-for-10 at the line, with five rebounds, five assists and two steals in 32 minutes. It was not his most efficient night, and his five turnovers were the one blemish on the line, but he was a plus-21 and the Lakers never trailed after that early run. He was held to three points in the second quarter, which is part of why the rest of the roster’s production mattered so much.
The game comes two nights after Doncic returned in Atlanta. If you missed that one, our recap of the Lakers’ sixth straight win over the Atlanta Hawks covers how he came back with 32 points while Reaves sat out.
Sandro Mamukelashvili punishes his old team
Mamukelashvili, who began his NBA career in Milwaukee, was the difference in the second quarter while Doncic was quiet. He and Reaves each had 15 points in the first half, and a late push before the break turned a close game into a 61-50 Lakers lead at halftime.
Mamukelashvili finished with 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting, including 5-for-8 from three, in 26 minutes off the bench. That matched the 23 he scored Monday in Atlanta, so the forward now has back-to-back games at his season high. He was a plus-21, tied with Doncic, and his ability to space the floor from the center and power forward spots has turned into one of the more dependable parts of this road trip.
Coach JJ Redick has leaned on a deep rotation all season, and Wednesday was another example. Fourteen Lakers played, and the bench combined for 55 points.
Austin Reaves returns and makes it look easy
Reaves missed Monday’s game because of an illness and came off the official injury report before tipoff, as we noted in our Lakers at Bucks preview. He went straight back into the starting lineup and looked like he had not missed anything.
Reaves scored 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting and made all five of his free throws. He added five assists, three rebounds and three steals in 25 minutes, and his plus-23 was the best on the team. Only a few days ago he carried the Lakers with 43 points in Detroit without Luka Doncic; on Wednesday he was the efficient second option next to him, which is the role the Lakers need him to play over a long season.
The third quarter decides it
Los Angeles put the game away coming out of halftime. The Lakers outscored the Bucks 33-23 in the third quarter and took a 94-73 lead into the fourth. The period ended with a scuffle in its final seconds, and Herro and Ziaire Williams were each assessed a technical foul.
Williams was one of several role players who made the margin possible. He scored nine points on 4-for-5 shooting with five assists in 20 minutes. Walker Kessler posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, four of them on the offensive glass, to go with a steal and a block. Collin Sexton gave the second unit 10 points, and Matisse Thybulle added eight points, five rebounds and three steals as a starter.
Jake LaRavia did not score, missing all four of his shots, but he still affected the game with nine rebounds, seven of them offensive, and six assists. Quentin Grimes, who was listed as questionable with a sprained right finger, did not appear in the box score.
What the numbers say
The Lakers’ defense and ball movement drove this win as much as the shot-making did. A few team numbers from the box score stand out:
- 32 assists on 44 made field goals, against 25 for Milwaukee.
- 14 steals, with Reaves and Thybulle each recording three.
- 28 points off turnovers, compared with 22 for the Bucks.
- 22 fast-break points to Milwaukee’s 12.
- 48 points in the paint to the Bucks’ 40.
- 19 offensive rebounds and a 48-40 edge on the boards overall.
Los Angeles shot 46 percent from the field and 15-for-40 from three, and went 20-for-23 at the free-throw line. Milwaukee got to the line more often, going 29-for-33, which is largely how Herro and Jaquez kept the Bucks within range in the first half. Herro shot 8-for-16 and 9-for-10 from the line with seven assists. Jaquez was 7-for-16 and a perfect 9-for-9 at the stripe. Kyle Kuzma was held to nine points on 2-for-8 shooting.
Milwaukee’s late push
The Bucks’ 39-point fourth quarter cut a 24-point deficit to the final 11-point margin. Most of that came after Redick emptied the bench, with Kevon Looney, Bronny James, Jaden Hardy, Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero on the floor in the closing minutes. Bronny James scored four points, all at the line, and Jaden Hardy hit a three. The late run did not change the outcome, but it is worth noting that the Lakers’ reserves gave up ground quickly once the regular rotation sat.
The Lakers’ streak and the road ahead
Seven straight wins and an 11-2 start make this the best record in the NBA heading into the weekend. The Lakers are now 6-1 on the road, and the Milwaukee win was the third stop on a four-game trip that has included wins in Detroit, Atlanta and now Milwaukee.
The trip ends Sunday when the Lakers visit the Phoenix Suns at 1 p.m. PST. Los Angeles then comes home to host the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday, Nov. 17, and the Utah Jazz the following night. The questions to watch in Phoenix are whether Grimes is cleared to return from his finger injury and whether Mamukelashvili can keep producing at this level off the bench.
For more Lakers postgame reaction, catch Walker Kessler’s comments on Doncic from earlier this month, when he called his teammate his MVP:
You can also watch the full Lakers at Bucks highlights on YouTube.
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