Rapid Recap: Bucks 98, Lakers 90

The Lonzo Ball Lakers came to town and leave losers as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated them 98-90 tonight. Milwaukee managed to hold off the Lakers in the first half, staking themselves to a two-point lead heading into halftime on the weary, Atlas-esque shoulders of Giannis Antetokounmpo who had 15 points and five rebounds in the first 24 minutes of play. Milwaukee pulled ahead to start the second half, leading by double digits with just five minutes to go. Giannis hit a few from the charity stripe in clutch time to cement the win for Milwaukee.

Giannis put forth his usual domination, flummoxing the Lakers to finish with a commanding 33 points and 15 rebounds. Even with the lack of supporting cast he has grown accustomed to over the last several games, he still managed to lead Milwaukee to a victory.

Meanwhile, Eric Bledsoe followed up last night’s debut with a relatively light night for the home crowd, ending with 11 points on just 4-13 shooting. Malcolm Brogdon stepped to the plate from the bench to assist Giannis with 16 points during another frigid shooting night by Khris Middleton with 13 points on a 3-13 performance.

Lonzo Ball, the discussed to death rookie for the Lakers, managed to pass Lebron James as the youngest player in NBA history to tally a triple-double, finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists. His best running mates tonight were fellow rookie Kyle Kuzma (21 points, 11 rebounds) and bowling ball finisher Julius Randle, who found his way to 17 points on just 7 shots on the night.

Stat That Stood Out

Milwaukee may not have gotten the type of celebrity calls Los Angeles got tonight, who headed to the stripe 37 times compare to just 26 for Milwaukee. The Bucks far outshot the Lakers from a percentage standpoint though, 84.6% to 59.5%, which led to just as many free points despite 11 less attempts. That meant a lot when the game came down to just eight points in the end.