The key, coach Darvin Ham said before the game, would be for the Lakers to move on after mistakes, to not let the errors pile up, to employ what he, and every NBA coach calls, a “next-play mentality.”
Opening a six-game trip Tuesday in Milwaukee, forget about the next play. The Lakers, even before the game, looked like a team focused on the next day.
Their biggest star, LeBron James, didn’t play after he experienced soreness in his bothersome left ankle after the Lakers’ win on Sunday. And with another game at Memphis awaiting the Lakers Wednesday night, strategic rest seemed like a factor too.
But, the next play kept coming. And the Lakers, eventually started to make some shots.
They bounced back from a disaster start and from being down 19 points in the fourth quarter to extend the game — the next plays stretching longer into the Wisconsin night.
More than three hours and two overtimes after the game tipped, Austin Reaves hit the shot of the night — an open three-pointer — to push the Lakers ahead and eventually steal a 128-124 win in double overtime.
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Reaves, who had a potential game-winner drop in and out at the end of regulation, finished with his second career triple-double, scoring 29 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and dishing 10 assists. Anthony Davis, limping throughout the second half, finished with 34 points and 23 rebounds, Rui Hachimura (16 points and 14 rebounds) and D’Angelo Russell (29 points and 12 assists) both had double-doubles.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 29 points, 21 rebounds and 11 assists, but he missed two crucial free throws in the second overtime to allow the Lakers to seal it at the line. Davis swished a pair, finishing off a 30-for-32 game for the Lakers from the line.
Two free throws by Taurean Prince tied the score at 101-101 — the first tie since 0-0 — but a Russell turnover on a potentially game-winning possession set the stage for the Bucks. Milwaukee couldn’t convert, though, and Reaves got a clean look at the buzzer from deep, but it rattled in and out.
Two free throws by Russell with three seconds left in the first overtime set up a game-saving block at the buzzer by Davis on Damian Lillard‘s shot.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
