The Los Angeles Lakers continued their preseason slate on Thursday night, hitting the road to take on the Milwaukee Bucks.
LeBron James and JJ Redick expressed their displeasure with having to travel so far for just one preseason game, but it represented a good opportunity to get some game reps against another quality opponent.
It also represented a chance for Redick to pick up his first preseason win, and he did exactly that, leading the Lakers to a 107-102 comeback victory.
The Lakers were sloppy to start, committing back-to-back turnovers with Giannis Antetokounmpo scoring four straight points. L.A. settled in from there though, rattling off nine straight with Max Christie, who got the start in place on the injured Austin Reaves, scoring five of them.
Bobby Portis came off the bench for Milwaukee though and scored 10 quick points to keep his team in front. That was until the Lakers went on another run to end the first quarter with Anthony Davis making a couple jumpers, giving his team a 26-23 lead.
Portis stayed hot to begin the second with back-to-back triples before James responded with one of his own. The Lakers struggled to stop Antetokounmpo from getting downhill, leading to an 11-0 Bucks run to regain the lead.
With Antetokounmpo and Portis combining for 43 first-half points for the Bucks, the Lakers went into the locker room trailing 58-52.
Davis was still in there for the Lakers to begin the third quarter and immediately went to work down low. James, Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard were all done for the night, however. Davis only stayed in for a few minutes before heading to the bench for the rest of the game as well.
With the regulars off the floor, Dalton Knecht had a green light and buried a pair of triples while Jaxson Hayes had some hustle plays to get the deficit back to three. L.A. got sloppy against to close the quarter though and trailed 82-74 at the end of the third.
The Lakers’ young guys have struggled to close out games this preseason and that looked to be the case again in this one as the Bucks quickly extended their lead to 15 early in the fourth.
L.A. fought back though with Maxwell Lewis, Dalton Knecht, Quincy Olivari and Armel Traore leading a 20-0 run to regain the lead. They continued to pour it on from there, cruising to an easy victory.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers will be on the road for the rest of the preseason, taking on the Golden State Warriors in Las Vegas before finishing up with a true road back-to-back against the Phoenix Suns and Warriors.
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