Lakers Game Observations: Game 36 vs Bucks

January 10, 2026 at 7:35 am

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

The Lakers’ unbeaten streak of 13 clutch wins finally came to an end with a 105–101 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. The game looked similar to many of those past wins, with the Lakers mounting another comeback push and giving themselves a chance to close it out down the stretch, but this time the ball bounced the other way.

Luka Dončić fouled out on a key possession with the game tied and 16 seconds left after closing out on a Kevin Porter Jr. three-point attempt. After Porter Jr. made two of his three free throws, Giannis Antetokounmpo stripped LeBron James on a final drive attempt to send the game to overtime.

The Lakers were able to mask some of their early season issues with often great, and sometimes lucky, execution down the stretch of close games. But when you find yourself in clutch situations so often, some of those games are eventually going to swing the other way.

digginbasketball is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Today’s notes:

LeBron and second-half defense were enough for a win…

…but a terrible day for Luka wasn’t

An unusually terrible from two, good from three night for the Lakers

Sacrificing offense and spacing for defense (VIDEO)

1-LeBron and second-half defense were enough for a win…

The Lakers opened the game fairly well defensively, but a couple of bad first quarter turnovers turned it into another game where their mistakes were punished repeatedly in transition early. They cleaned up the turnovers and battled Antetokounmpo well, but it was the others who punished the Lakers’ switching defense by attacking mismatches in a first half in which Los Angeles gave up 61 points.

However, as they often have this season, the Lakers turned up their defensive intensity and focus in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter. A group led by James, Jarred Vanderbilt, Marcus Smart, and Jaxson Hayes held the Bucks to just 19 points by pressuring the ball, fighting on switches, and showing consistent hustle across the board. Notably, Deandre Ayton was benched again in favor of Hayes, who played the final 17 minutes of the second half, including the entire fourth quarter without a break.

Source: https://www.nba.com/game/mil-vs-lal-0022500541/game-charts

Offensively, it was James who led another inspiring fourth quarter comeback, scoring 13 points in the final period while also making several hustle plays, collecting five rebounds and two steals in the fourth. James eventually ran out of gas, getting blocked and stripped by Antetokounmpo on the final two Lakers possessions.

2-…but a terrible day for Luka wasn’t

The game looked similar to a few recent ones where James led a fourth quarter push, setting the stage for his partner to finish the job. But unlike the recent games against the Grizzlies and Pelicans, when Dončić made two clutch threes, this just wasn’t his day. Dončić called it a terrible one afterward and attributed his struggles to poor finishing inside the arc, an area of the game where he had been so dominant in the previous game against the Spurs and for most of the season. In a way, this was the inverse Dončić game. On a night when he made four of his six three point attempts, he went completely cold inside the arc, making just four of 19 shots inside the three point line.

Source: Luka Dončić shot chart against the Bucks (source NBA dot com)

The problem for Dončić was that the missed shots, and what he felt were plenty of missed calls on contact during his foul seeking attempts, affected the rest of his game.

Just one game after JJ Redick praised his disposition, leadership, and body language for inspiring confidence in his teammates, Dončić had a performance on the other end of the spectrum. It was a spiraling effect we have seen Dončić struggle with in the past, when initial no-calls turn into an emotional uphill battle against the referees and eventually against himself, leading to missed shots, free throws, even layups, and a loss of composure.

Dončić’s unnecessary swipe, which resulted in his fifth foul on Porter Jr. in the closing seconds of the third quarter while the Bucks were in the bonus, sent Milwaukee to the free throw line and made his life much more difficult, as he had to play the key moments of the game one foul away from elimination. That eventually happened on the key play of the game, a moment that summed up a long night of frustrations.

A season of a couple of steps forward, followed by a step back, continues for Luka.

3-An unusually terrible from two, good from three night for the Lakers

The Lakers’ recipe for wins all season has been dominating inside the arc, by being the best team in the NBA in mid-range and at-the-rim accuracy, and by leading the league in getting to the free throw line. None of that happened last night. In fact, this was the Lakers’ lowest output of the season in both free throw rate and mid range accuracy.

Source: Cleaning the Glass

In a game where the Lakers actually won the hustle categories, offensive rebounding and turnovers, and shot the ball better than a strong shooting Bucks team from three, it was their usual strengths that ultimately became their downfall.

Dončić missing shots inside the arc was the main culprit, but not the only one. The two big men, Ayton and Hayes, otherwise elite finishers this season, combined to go just 5 of 12.

4-Sacrificing offense and spacing for defense (VIDEO)

Before getting into this, it’s important to make a few things clear:

Luka missed plenty of shots last night that he usually makes.

Jarred Vanderbilt was a key part of the Lakers’ turnaround, serving as the primary Giannis defender in the fourth quarter.

And many of us have been calling for Redick to lean more into defense-minded lineups, and the defense was good enough last night to win.

But last night was one of those games that showed why Redick values Rui Hachimura’s floor spacing so much. In Hachimura’s absence, Vanderbilt has often been playing minutes in the high 20s, and he logged 27 last night. And as I’ve been pointing out over the last couple of games, the Lakers are essentially playing five on four on offense when Vando is on the floor.

That becomes even more problematic when the opposing team has multiple long defenders like Antetokounmpo or Myles Turner, who can be used as roaming free safeties helping off Vanderbilt.

Again, the Lakers’ defense was solid enough in the second half for them to win if Luka had converted one or two of his looks down the stretch. Lately, though, those looks have been even more contested than usual.

In the bigger picture, the Lakers’ recent offensive struggles have come at the cost of better defense and significantly worse spacing, with Vanderbilt and Smart playing extended minutes.

Comments

LakerTom says

January 10, 2026 at 7:35 am

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

The Lakers’ unbeaten streak of 13 clutch wins finally came to an end with a 105–101 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. The game looked similar to many of those past wins, with the Lakers mounting another comeback push and giving themselves a chance to close it out down the stretch, but this time the ball bounced the other way.

Luka Dončić fouled out on a key possession with the game tied and 16 seconds left after closing out on a Kevin Porter Jr. three-point attempt. After Porter Jr. made two of his three free throws, Giannis Antetokounmpo stripped LeBron James on a final drive attempt to send the game to overtime.

The Lakers were able to mask some of their early season issues with often great, and sometimes lucky, execution down the stretch of close games. But when you find yourself in clutch situations so often, some of those games are eventually going to swing the other way.

digginbasketball is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Today’s notes:

LeBron and second-half defense were enough for a win…

…but a terrible day for Luka wasn’t

An unusually terrible from two, good from three night for the Lakers

Sacrificing offense and spacing for defense (VIDEO)

1-LeBron and second-half defense were enough for a win…

The Lakers opened the game fairly well defensively, but a couple of bad first quarter turnovers turned it into another game where their mistakes were punished repeatedly in transition early. They cleaned up the turnovers and battled Antetokounmpo well, but it was the others who punished the Lakers’ switching defense by attacking mismatches in a first half in which Los Angeles gave up 61 points.

However, as they often have this season, the Lakers turned up their defensive intensity and focus in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter. A group led by James, Jarred Vanderbilt, Marcus Smart, and Jaxson Hayes held the Bucks to just 19 points by pressuring the ball, fighting on switches, and showing consistent hustle across the board. Notably, Deandre Ayton was benched again in favor of Hayes, who played the final 17 minutes of the second half, including the entire fourth quarter without a break.

Source: https://www.nba.com/game/mil-vs-lal-0022500541/game-charts

Offensively, it was James who led another inspiring fourth quarter comeback, scoring 13 points in the final period while also making several hustle plays, collecting five rebounds and two steals in the fourth. James eventually ran out of gas, getting blocked and stripped by Antetokounmpo on the final two Lakers possessions.

2-…but a terrible day for Luka wasn’t

The game looked similar to a few recent ones where James led a fourth quarter push, setting the stage for his partner to finish the job. But unlike the recent games against the Grizzlies and Pelicans, when Dončić made two clutch threes, this just wasn’t his day. Dončić called it a terrible one afterward and attributed his struggles to poor finishing inside the arc, an area of the game where he had been so dominant in the previous game against the Spurs and for most of the season. In a way, this was the inverse Dončić game. On a night when he made four of his six three point attempts, he went completely cold inside the arc, making just four of 19 shots inside the three point line.

Source: Luka Dončić shot chart against the Bucks (source NBA dot com)

The problem for Dončić was that the missed shots, and what he felt were plenty of missed calls on contact during his foul seeking attempts, affected the rest of his game.

Just one game after JJ Redick praised his disposition, leadership, and body language for inspiring confidence in his teammates, Dončić had a performance on the other end of the spectrum. It was a spiraling effect we have seen Dončić struggle with in the past, when initial no-calls turn into an emotional uphill battle against the referees and eventually against himself, leading to missed shots, free throws, even layups, and a loss of composure.

Dončić’s unnecessary swipe, which resulted in his fifth foul on Porter Jr. in the closing seconds of the third quarter while the Bucks were in the bonus, sent Milwaukee to the free throw line and made his life much more difficult, as he had to play the key moments of the game one foul away from elimination. That eventually happened on the key play of the game, a moment that summed up a long night of frustrations.

A season of a couple of steps forward, followed by a step back, continues for Luka.

3-An unusually terrible from two, good from three night for the Lakers

The Lakers’ recipe for wins all season has been dominating inside the arc, by being the best team in the NBA in mid-range and at-the-rim accuracy, and by leading the league in getting to the free throw line. None of that happened last night. In fact, this was the Lakers’ lowest output of the season in both free throw rate and mid range accuracy.

Source: Cleaning the Glass

In a game where the Lakers actually won the hustle categories, offensive rebounding and turnovers, and shot the ball better than a strong shooting Bucks team from three, it was their usual strengths that ultimately became their downfall.

Dončić missing shots inside the arc was the main culprit, but not the only one. The two big men, Ayton and Hayes, otherwise elite finishers this season, combined to go just 5 of 12.

4-Sacrificing offense and spacing for defense (VIDEO)

Before getting into this, it’s important to make a few things clear:

Luka missed plenty of shots last night that he usually makes.

Jarred Vanderbilt was a key part of the Lakers’ turnaround, serving as the primary Giannis defender in the fourth quarter.

And many of us have been calling for Redick to lean more into defense-minded lineups, and the defense was good enough last night to win.

But last night was one of those games that showed why Redick values Rui Hachimura’s floor spacing so much. In Hachimura’s absence, Vanderbilt has often been playing minutes in the high 20s, and he logged 27 last night. And as I’ve been pointing out over the last couple of games, the Lakers are essentially playing five on four on offense when Vando is on the floor.

That becomes even more problematic when the opposing team has multiple long defenders like Antetokounmpo or Myles Turner, who can be used as roaming free safeties helping off Vanderbilt.

Again, the Lakers’ defense was solid enough in the second half for them to win if Luka had converted one or two of his looks down the stretch. Lately, though, those looks have been even more contested than usual.

In the bigger picture, the Lakers’ recent offensive struggles have come at the cost of better defense and significantly worse spacing, with Vanderbilt and Smart playing extended minutes.

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