The Los Angeles Lakers bring a six-game winning streak to Milwaukee as they take on the Bucks on Wednesday night.
The Lakers opened four-game road trip with a 121-116 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday before posting a 124-114 win over the Atlanta Hawks the following night.
Luka Doncic led the way against the Hawks with a near triple-double, totaling 32 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. He also had five steals.
“He does a great job of figuring out on a night-to-night basis what levers to pull. … it’s not just hunt, hunt, hunt. He reads the game,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of Doncic.
Redick also praised Sandro Mamukelashvili, who finished 7-for-13 from the floor with 23 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
“His best game as a Laker. That was awesome,” Redick said. “Made some big-time plays. I think the last two games, great examples of next guy up.”
Doncic leads the NBA with an average of 39.3 points per game this season. He also averages a team-high 7.9 assists.
Austin Reaves contributes 25.3 points per game for the Lakers, while Walker Kessler averages 10.8 rebounds.
Led by Doncic, the Lakers also lead the league in scoring as a team at 122.1 points per game and field-goal percentage (50.7). Moreover, they bring tenacity on the defensive end, ranking second in steals per game (10.8) and third in blocks (6.4).
Milwaukee will be on the second night of a back-to-back set after losing 117-85 to the reigning champion Knicks on Tuesday in New York.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 16 points for the Bucks, who have lost seven straight games to fall to 1-10 for the first time since the 1993-94 season. Ryan Rollins scored 14 points while Kasparas Jakucionis (11 points) and Nate Ament (10 points) got into double figures off the bench.
Eight of Milwaukee’s 10 losses have been by at least 10 points.
The Bucks had their two lowest-scoring quarters this season with 13 points in both the second and fourth vs. the Knicks.
“We just have to do better. Give them a lot of credit. We’ve struggled the last couple of games,” Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins said. “Fouls, foul disparity, it beats you down, and you can’t play your style of basketball on the offensive side.”
Jenkins also broke down the challenges of trying to get a brand-new roster of players to work together and figure out what works.
“It’s not a challenge — it’s an opportunity. We’ve got a lot of guys, need to try to continue to try different things,” he said. “We’ve got to continue to establish what we identify as our pillars, get the group that does that more often than not.”
The Bucks’ offense struggled without injured Tyler Herro (right knee contusion). His status for Wednesday is to be determined.
On the injury front for Los Angeles, Quentin Grimes (finger) is listed as questionable. Doncic had missed one game due to lower back tightness prior to Monday’s game.
