Though LeBron James sat this one out after surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA’s all-time scoring record, the Bucks took down his Lakers for their ninth straight victory behind Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 38-point, 23-shot performance.
A back-and-forth first, punctuated by some vicious Giannis throwdowns, featured shotmaking at a decent clip from both sides early on. While LA got on a 17-6 run that helped them separate slightly, it was only by six at most, and the period ended with them ahead 31-26.
The Lakers briefly increased their lead to eleven against some deeper-bench Bucks lineups early in the second who really struggled to shoot.