Without LeBron James, the Lakers defeated the Bucks in exciting fashion for the second game this month.

The Los Angeles Lakers, without LeBron James, stunned the Milwaukee Bucks in double-overtime on Tuesday night, 128-124, rallying behind Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, and D’Angelo Russell to overcome a 19-point fourth-quarter hole. The game was played in a boisterous Fiserv Forum.

LeBron described the Lakers’ dramatic second victory over Milwaukee this month as the first leg of a “testy” East Coast trip. Darvin Ham commented, “It was a great way to start off a six-game trip.”

Tuesday’s victory “might be top-three” for the season, according to Ham. When asked if it was their best win of 2023–2024, AD said, “not sure.” Undoubtedly, it was a successful start to the road trip.

Best? Who knows? Most unlikely and crucial, given everything, without a doubt.

In the Western Conference standings, the Lakers (40-32) are now only two games behind the Phoenix Suns (42-30) for the ninth seed. LA is the team with the tiebreaker.

From a vibe perspective, the comeback and subsequent fortitude in overtime echoed the team that reached a new height around this time last year (despite LeBron’s foot ailment) on their way to the conference finals. These Lakers, who have won four straight, are playing their greatest basketball of the year, so don’t look now.

This Wednesday night, the Lakers take on the Memphis Grizzlies.

Reaves, who recorded his second career triple-double with 34 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists, stated, “There’s two things you can do.””You have two options: give up and leave for Memphis tomorrow, or rise to the occasion and take on the challenge.”

After LeBron was ruled out due to ankle pain, Milwaukee was expected to be the trip’s excused loser (the Lakers also play the Grizzlies, Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, and Washington Wizards). When the Lakers opened the game by missing 15 of their first 17 shots, things appeared to be going that way.

Up until the Bucks broke it open to begin the fourth, the Lakers persisted in battling back. With 6:56 remaining, Doc Rivers called a timeout due to an unexpected 7-0 run, just as Ham was about to bench his starters.

Ham remarked, “I told them we got enough time to get this done.” Lakers’ deficit was 94–82.

The first five to six minutes of the fourth quarter are always given to us by the coach to try to reduce the lead,” Davis remarked. We felt like we had the momentum after that. Continued to chip away. continued to receive stops. continued to make shots from the other end.

“In this league right now, a 20-point lead is nothing.”

Throughout overtime, both teams clearly struggled to score. Giannis missed two crucial free shots, much to LeBron’s pleasure. Davis thwarted a possible game-winning shot from Damian Lillard. The game-winning three-pointer came from Reaves at 37.8 seconds in double overtime. (Russell paid him an express compliment.)

Following their historic track match with Indiana, the Lakers once again achieved previously unheard-of stats. After suffering a late-game knee injury that required medical attention, AD finished with 34 points (12 of 31 shooting! ), 23 rebounds, and four blocks. With his 52 minutes, he set a career best and became the first Lakers player to do so since Kobe Bryant in 2012.

Bravo to him,” Ham remarked. “He acted like a fool.”

D’Angelo Russell (29 points, 12 assists) keeps up his All-Star caliber of play. The Lakers shot 30-32 (92.8%) from the free-throw line and pulled down 69 rebounds, which is a record since 1993.

big victory for the group. Everyone contributed. Russell remarked, “Darvin was outstanding, man. This is, I believe, the first time a Lakers player has publicly praised Ham’s Xs and Os this season. “Towards the end of the game, he drew up some amazing sets and gave us some great looks.” Emotionally, I believe we were all invested in that one. Everyone was fully engaged in the game and willing to go to any lengths to win.

In the end, the defense helped the Lakers win. Lillard (27 points) was limited by Los Angeles to 3-of-14 from three and 9-of-29 from the field. Chris Middleton made 4 of 15 shots. Milwaukee scored 30 points in the last 18:25 of play, including 13 points in the fourth quarter.

In close games, the Lakers rely on their mental toughness regardless of LeBron’s presence. As much as LeBron (well, maybe not nearly), that will aid them in the playoffs to compete with teams that are on par with the Bucks.

We are aware of our goals and our current standings,” AD remarked. Guys had to step up for us as a unit, especially with Bron out. On both ends of the floor, we carried that out.

Unknown for LeBron’s matchup with Memphis. His teammates—especially Davis—might need the 39-year-old to step up and lead the charge in the second part of a back-to-back after his heroic performance at the Fiserv Forum.

“A 58-minute match,” Davis remarked. “Everything is lined up for tomorrow.”

Concerning the Writer