Even without LeBron James , the Los Angeles Lakers proved to be too much for the Milwaukee Bucks. After the game, head coach Doc Rivers shared his thoughts on why the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led team fell to the Purple and Gold.
During the Bucks’ recent game against Los Angeles, the latter went home with the 128-124 double overtime win against the former. Anthony Davis had a monster game by dropping 34 points, 23 rebounds, and four blocks while D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves helped shoulder the offensive load by getting 29 points each. Moreover, Reaves had 14 rebounds and 10 assists to help the Lakers get away with the win.
Not to be outdone, Antetokounmpo also put up an insane performance of 29 points, 21 rebounds, and 11 assists in 46 minutes on the court. Damian Lillard added 27 points and eight assists, while Malik Beasley contributed 21 points. But even with their stellar showing, Milwaukee fell down the stretch to the Lakers.
The win helped Los Angeles solidify their hold on the ninth seed in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, the Bucks are still in second place with a 46-26 record. With the regular season coming to an end soon, the Lakers will have to get all the wins they can while the Bucks just need to keep its pace and hold their current seed in the Easter Conference.
Doc Rivers Reveals Why The Milwaukee Bucks Lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in Double-Overtime
After the game, Rivers spoke to the media and tried to explain how the Bucks lost. In a tweet posted by Eric Nehm on X:
“Doc Rivers: “We didn’t trust the pass tonight. A lot of zero-pass shots or one-pass shots and when we play like that – we get away with it sometimes because guys make shots – but we lost our trust,” Nehm tweeted.
Due to the ball not moving around well, the Lakers were able to capitalize in the final stretch of the game. Plus, the Bucks only shot 18 percent from the field during the second overtime, which contributed to their loss.
If the Bucks aim to win it all this year, Antetokounmpo, Lillard, and all the other players in the lineup would have to keep the ball moving and get some buckets efficiently. Otherwise, the fate they suffered against Los Angeles will keep happening over and over again. In any case, it’s up to Doc Rivers to guide the team to prevent this loss from happening in the coming days.
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