Lakers rally in fourth quarter to earn first preseason win vs. Bucks

After trailing by as many as 15 in the fourth quarter, the young Lakers rallied big to pick up the team’s first win of the preseason over the Bucks.

The Lakers stormed back in the fourth quarter in Thursday’s road trip to Milwaukee to earn a 107-102 over the Bucks for their first win of the preseason..

LeBron James scored 11 points with six rebounds and four assists. He played in just 16 minutes, all in the first half. Anthony Davis had a slow offensive game with 11 points to go with his eight rebounds and three blocks. AD played 25 minutes, including the first half of the third quarter.

Rui Hachimura had a solid game with 14 points and five rebounds. Dalton Knecht netted 13 points to go with his eight rebounds. Gabe Vincent had another solid game off the bench with eight points, going 3-5 from the field.

The Lakers started the game with two turnovers on their first two possessions. Christie ended the brief scoring drought, knocking down a 3-pointer. LA took the lead by three on a 7-0 run. A block by AD led to a break that ended with a D’Lo assist to Rui for a great dunk.

The Bucks jumped ahead by one on a 10-0 run, started by Bobby Portis. Christie then connected on a three to stop some of the bleeding. A bank shot three by Gabe Vincent put the Lakers up by two. Los Angeles ended the quarter up three.

The second quarter began with both teams tying the game back and forth. Milwaukee stepped up their defense, which included Giannis Antetokounmpo blocking LeBron. LA was struggling to find a good defensive scheme.

Los Angeles’ offense was clicking quite well despite the defensive woes. They went ahead multiple possessions on the back of an impressive 8-0 scoring run. Milwaukee hit back with an 11-0 run to retake the lead.

LA fired up their offense again, including another three by Vincent. Still, at halftime, they were down 58-52.

Milwaukee started the second half without their star duo as they were held out for the rest of the game. The Lakers had AD out there for some extra burn, but LeBron was on the bench. LA went on a 9-2 scoring run to tie the game.

Both teams eventually went to their bench squads. The Bucks had a slightly better offense which helped them keep the lead. By the end of the third, the Lakers were down 82-74.

The young Bucks took a big lead of 15 to start the final frame. LA’s bench squad started chipping away at the deficit to cut it to six. Quincy Olivari and Maxwell Lewis drained 3-pointers. The Lakers kept extending their scoring run and took the lead by two.

The scoring run had gone to 20-0 before the Bucks finally scored something. Olivari’s fourth-quarter explosion continued as he took over the offense and put the team on his back. The outstanding run for LA was capped off by a vicious dunk by Lewis, which had the Lakers bench going crazy.

Key Takeaways:

The defense still needs to be worked on. Multiple times, the Lakers fell asleep on the defensive end, leading to easy shots for the Bucks.

Vincent continued showing what he will bring to the team this season with his firepower from behind the arc and hustle on the court.

The young Lakers showed a lot of heart and hustle, which was great to witness. Olivari might be a gem for the Lake Show. He scored quite an impressive 11 points.

The Lakers’ next preseason game is Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors at 7:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.