-
Dave McMenamin, ESPN Staff Writer
MILWAUKEE — Anthony was exhausted after logging 52 minutes, 51 seconds (the most minutes of his career and the most minutes by a Los Angeles Lakers player since Kobe Bryant in 2012) He was limping with knee pain that required treatment. All Davis could do was smile after beating the Milwaukee Bucks 128-124 in double overtime on Tuesday.
“It was fun,” Davis said after the Lakers, playing without LeBron James due to a sore left ankle, fought back from trailing by 19 points in the fourth quarter. “Let’s line up and try again tomorrow.”
In fact, L.A.'s reward for its fourth straight win came on the second night of a back-to-back on Wednesday, when they trailed the Western Conference's eighth-seeded Phoenix Suns by two games with 10 games remaining. With the Memphis Grizzlies.
and an upset win over the Bucks, during which Davis had 34 points and 23 rebounds, Austin Reaves recorded his second career triple-double with 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists, and D'Angelo Russell had 29 points and 10 assists. He scored 12 points. Assist — It would be wasted if he didn't test it against the basement-dwelling Grizzlies.
“Right now we have to try to refill the cup and play against a really hard-playing, competitive Memphis team regardless of the situation with guys going in and out of the lineup,” Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said. he said.
LA started Tuesday's game 2-of-16 from the field, and the Bucks built a 19-point lead in the first quarter. The Lakers got back to single digits in the second and third innings, but Milwaukee got back up to 19 points with 8:25 left in the fourth.
LA then went on a quick 7-0 run thanks to Russell and Davis, giving the Lakers enough room to convince Hamm during a timeout with 6 minutes, 56 seconds left and the Bucks leading by 12 points.
“I told them, 'Hey, get your act together. Let's try to get it down to single digits in a few minutes. And we've got plenty of time to do what we need to do,'” Ham said. And they started coming out there and making plays and making shots and getting stops.”
Taurean Prince made two free throws with 43.9 seconds left in the fourth to bring the score to 101 points, and Davis defended a lob from Giannis Antetokounmpo (29 points, 21 rebounds, 11 assists). ), there were many scenes that stood out. With 2.0 seconds left, an inbounds pass from the sideline missed the rim.
And that was just the fourth time.
Russell made two free throws with 3.1 seconds left in the first overtime to tie the score, then Davis denied a finger roll from Damian Lillard (27 points, 8 assists) with 0.9 seconds left and made another defensive play. It was a big reversal. go.
“It’s a defensive instinct,” Davis said. “I saw him take a step and I think it was on.” [Reaves]That's what I read.
In the second OT, neither team scored for the first three minutes of the five-minute session, but Spencer Dinwiddie tied it with two free throws with 1:17 left, and Reeves made the biggest shot of the night. I decided on 3. The Lakers took the lead for good with 38.6 seconds left.
“It's something you dream about as a kid, to go on the road with your guys and have a chance to play against great teams and make big shots,” Reeves said.
Antetokounmpo missed the same number of free throws (two) in the second overtime as LA missed the entire game. He went 1-for-6 from the line. The Lakers were 30-for-32 at bat.
“He took his foot off his feet and got burned,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “That's it. When we played right at the beginning of the game, it was beautiful basketball. We stopped making the right plays and thought we could still win, but we didn't.”
LA improved to 6-4 this season without James. The 21-year veteran is the first team to hit above .500 without James since the Miami Heat in 2012-13.
“I think we're an unpredictable team,” Russell said. “So it depends on which team they pick, and it also depends on which team has the defensive and offensive ability as a team. Some players are better than others.” [some nights]. Some people have a hard time at night. It depends on what team we become. When we're at our best like we were tonight — obviously without Bron — but I think it's hard to beat us.”
ESPN's Jamal Collier contributed to this report.
