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Dave McMenamin, ESPN writer
MILWAUKEE — Exhausted from logging 52 minutes, 51 seconds — the most played time of his career and the most by a Los Angeles Lakers player since Kobe Bryant in 2012 — and suffering from knee pain that required treatment during the game, all of which Anthony Davis could smile about after Defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 128-124 in double overtime on Tuesday.
It was fun, Davis said after the Lakers played without LeBron James due to a left ankle injury, and he trailed by 19 points in the fourth quarter before coming back strong. “Let's line up and do it again tomorrow.”
In fact, Los Angeles' reward for its fourth straight win — the team tied two games behind the Phoenix Suns for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference with 10 contests remaining — is the second night of back-to-back Wednesdays. On the Memphis Grizzlies.
In the surprise victory over the Bucks, Davis scored 34 points and grabbed 23 rebounds, and Austin Reeves scored 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists to achieve the second triple-double in his career, while D'Angelo Russell scored 29 points and 12 assists. Assists – will go to waste without validation against a basement-dwelling Grizzlies team.
Lakers coach Darvin Hamm said: “We now have to fill our cups again and try to play against a Memphis team that has a highly competitive spirit, regardless of its circumstances, with people in and out of the lineup.”
Los Angeles started Tuesday's game shooting 2-for-16 from the field as the Bucks built a 19-point lead in the first quarter. The Lakers cut it to single digits in the second and again in the third, but Milwaukee cut its cushion to 19 with 8:25 remaining in the fourth.
Russell and Davis then sparked a quick 7-0 run for Los Angeles, giving the Lakers enough life to convince Hamm to go for it during a timeout with 6:56 remaining and the Bucks leading by 12.
“I told them, 'Man, stick together. The next few minutes, let's try to get it down to single digits. We have plenty of time to do what we need to do,'” Hamm said. “They went out there and just started making plays and shooting and making stops.”
There were plenty of sequences that stood out — from Taurean Prince tying the score at 101 with two free throws with 43.9 seconds left in the fourth period, to Davis defending a loose ball to Giannis Antetokounmpo (29 points, 21 rebounds, 11 assists) on a rim pass. Sideline inbounds with 2.0 seconds remaining.
And that was only on the fourth.
In the first overtime, it was Russell's turn to tie the score with two free throws with 3.1 seconds left, and Davis went big with another defensive play, turning down a pass from Damian Lillard (27 points, 8 assists) with 0.9 seconds left. He goes.
“Defensive instincts,” Davis said. “I saw he had a move, and I thought he was on [Reaves]”And I just read it.”
In the second overtime, after both teams were scoreless for the first three minutes of the five-minute session, Spencer Dinwiddie tied the score with two free throws with 1:17 left and Reeves hit the biggest shot of the night, a 3 with 38.6 seconds remaining to give the Lakers the lead. Forever.
“These are the things you dream about as a kid, being on the road with your guys, fighting a great team and having chances to score big,” Reeves said.
Antetokounmpo missed so many free throws in the second overtime — two — that Los Angeles missed the entire game. He finished 1-for-6 from the line. The Lakers were 30-for-32.
“We left our feet and got burned,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “That's it. When we played at the beginning of the game, it was beautiful basketball. We stopped playing right and thought we could still win and we couldn't.”
Los Angeles improved to 6-4 this season without James — the 21-year-old veteran's first team with a record above .500 without him since the Miami Heat in 2012-13.
“I think we're an unpredictable team,” Russell said. “So it depends on the team you join, and it depends on the team we are in defensively and offensively as a unit. Some players are better than others.” [some nights]. Some guys have bad nights. It just depends on which team we will be in. “When we are at full capacity like tonight – obviously there is no Bronn – but I think we will be difficult to beat.”
ESPN's Jamal Collier contributed to this report.
