How the Lakers exposed the Bucks problems

Does Giannis have an answer for AD? How did the Lakers come back against the Bucks without LeBron James? This watch along reaction film breakdown details the Bucks defensive issues, offensive Xs and Os down the stretch, and Anthony Davis’s game-changing presence that makes Los Angeles dangerous against elite competition.

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We are back with another watch along this time it is the Lakers without LeBron James at Milwaukee let’s pick it up in the fourth quarter where this has been a one-sided game for the most part the Lakers were pounced on to start the game 26 to8 run by the Bucks they could

Not get the offense in gear without LeBron James meanwhile it’s been pretty fluid for Milwaukee there’s Dame Lillard with an elbow pull up to give them a 9475 lead here really great back and forth from Anthony Davis and Giannis for this game Giannis on the bench right now

And now let’s see what La can do D’Angelo Russell Signs of Life with the floater with Giannis off Bobby poris is the biggest buck and you see he doesn’t get inside position on Davis so ad gets that put back to cut it to 17 uh excuse me 15 but still just feels like

Milwaukee’s in charge with Giannis taking a rest here Lillard misses the fade over the ad contest and D’Angelo Russell and of course he is a streaky shooter and he cuts us to 12 and Milwaukee needs a timeout and right out of the timeout they go to Giannis in

The post against ad and he steps out of bounds for a turnover and this is just a great great matchup every time these guys get together I I feel like it’s fireworks because of the physicality between them good hands from Chris Middleton the Bucks are double big right now so

Giannis is out on tan Prince Lopez is the one who makes the nice rotation there at the rim and then anak Koopa out in transition he kind of got stuck torian Prince the key getting his hand on the ball slowing down Giannis and he’s expecting a player in the corner there slight

Miscommunication it’s a 12-point game six minutes to play they’re going to go to this High pick and roll and AD gets a nice little floater and this is the issue because Brook Lopez wants to be in a deeper drop he’s Less Mobile than Giannis so he’s matched up with ad here

Gets that little cushion in the middle of the paint That’s the shot the Bucks are going to concede in that action but it’s also one of Davis’s favorite sort of short mid-range floaters so now it’s a 10-point game and that’s just a fantastic pass by Chris Middleton and Giannis has he’s had

Another monster game he’s just been on an incredible tear this season especially offensively gets Davis to commit slightly it’s small ball so now there’s no other big players and you can see torian Prince is the second biggest Laker out there and Chris Middleton might be bigger than him and he’s the third biggest

Buck huge three from Davis who’s not much of a three-point shooter anymore never was but he’s he’s stopped taking them in many situations he’s dipped under 30% but a timely one as he’s kind of hobbling around played huge minutes in the first half he’s played a lot in the second half

And the lead has slipped to nine here Reeves with an isolation and no one provides help from the weak side Lillard is the low man he traditionally does it but Giannis is much bigger and better and he’s just late reacting to that drive too much quickness from Austin Rees in open

Space and now you start to get that sense of like wait a second this is not going to be one of those blowouts the Lakers are causing issues oh huge charge taken from Austin Reeves he tried to take at least one of these in the first half it wasn’t

Successful that time I think he’s there earlier that’s really all he can do against Giannis Giannis had seven turnovers in this game by the way way and there’s another defensive breakdown for Milwaukee it’s a basic screen away from Davis to get Reeves coming off the action again Brook Lopez sort of flat

Footed Giannis never reacts off the corner no one reacts and all of a sudden we are down to five and interestingly the Lakers are going to take another timeout out here to kind of get some rest and buy some time for Anthony Davis they work on that

Knee quad area and out of the timeout they go to that Dame Lillard Giannis action that so many people are interested to see how it looks in the playoffs they’re running it more pretty clean look for Lillard to just air mail that one Lakers just looking for a lot of

Guard guard actions because they have a lot of guards on the court trying to create some space g screens out of the pick and roll stuff like that you see Davis is just kind of hobbling the little Twan with Giannis and then immediately draws to Defenders because Prince is slow to

Recover extra pass another great shot from Milwaukee going early here and we’re back to 10 the Bucks should be feeling good so they pick on Dame up to what an zaka brings in terms of his physical will to get to the basket quite like Davis he the angles the size

It really bothers him and is a is a game changer and we might come back to that as we come back to action in the fourth quarter this time Middleton Reeves again holds his own against a a bigger sort of more bruising kind of offensive player who likes those

Post-ups Davis is feeling it a second timely three from Anthony Davis I’m telling you these guys always deliver when they match up with each other uh at least in Los Angeles this goes back there was a great game in 2020 at Staples Center and there’s Davis’s length almost forcing another

Turnover on the contest they went back to the Twan Lillard Giannis action Middleton shoots over him oh is the third time the charm probably probably should have run to the rim there instead of the three-point line I think that was a mistake tactically from ad you had like

A fouron two or something plenty of Shooters on the outside you can see he’s just sticking with Giannis here tons of space for Middleton again with this ISO that’s a tough 20 foot step back so Milwaukee’s halfcourt shots in the last what five minutes of

This game have not been very good and oh my goodness Austin Reeves cuts it to two and this is basically the closest the Lakers have been the entire game they go back to the Lillard Giannis pick and roll you see Davis up near the level Reeves does an okay job it’s a

Pretty good look for Dame and this defense is way too easy to attack they put Brook Lopez in the pick and roll he goes to the drop Beasley doesn’t get around the screen perfectly Prince is wide open on the pop Middleton closes to take away that corner pass but

That leaves the driving lane open Lopez recovers to the corner and has no interest in staying in the paint to help Middleton never takes away that drive so Beasley’s left behind it the whole thing is just too easy to attack so Prince makes the second we are

Tied with 40 seconds left I want to say that’s the first time it’s been tied since 0 another tough Middleton jumper if we run this back okay the Bucks are adding a little wrinkle to get Giannis and Damon the pick and roll together it’s a staggered screen the best pass is

Probably to the corner but that’s a harder pass to make when you’re small like Dame and when Anthony Davis is the guy in front of you and then give Reeves credit he’s in great position on the close out completely stalls Chris’s attack and I don’t love that shot with

11 seconds left on the shot clock going after Lillard there with a and Malik Beasley comes over to make the play Doc Rivers actually challenges this call saying it was off D’Angelo Russell last and the beauty of the watch along is we can just jump ahead where the

Bucks win the challenge and they have 13 seconds left to draw up a game-winning play and again it’s going to be Lillard the problem is Anthony Davis switches onto him now this is not an easy shot to get so you want to go to Giannis with

The mismatch on Spencer dwy out on the perimeter but Spencer dwy with a super high IQ foul you see he instantly reaches and gives that foul because they have one to give and he’s not in the shooting motion on the outside so that leaves us 3

Seconds we we don’t get a great look at it but they ran man a lob for Ana Deo and basically as you’ll see on the replay here it just looks like he flubs the layup there’s a little contact with Davis down on the body down below doesn’t really look like much though the

Arm doesn’t extend when he’s in the air I think Giannis just basically botches the the leg it’s a great call Great out- of bounds play that left the Lakers with 8/10 of a second they get this action so Austin Reeves almost with the Highlight but one thing here there’s

8/10 of a second left two players go to Davis for Milwaukee because of that lob action we just saw it’s fresh in their head and Reeves is wide open so he could stop at the three-point line but furthermore it’s a tie game he doesn’t need a three he can actually just stop

At the elbow at 18 ft he can stop and take the closest comfortable shot he doesn’t have to go another 10 ft out to the logo there it’s a subtle little thing in a tie game you want the highest percentage shot not the shot that yields

The most points in the long run all right so bonus basketball three-man game screen and pitch to The Corner Chris Middleton got a good look Giannis all over the glass unfriendly bounces and you can see Russell he wants to go at Lillard in the post and that’s a great Rotation by

Middleton and Giannis to create that steal and then the run out in transition and interesting Giannis didn’t attack there kicking it out to Malik Beasley for the three instead and unless it was two nothing I don’t know if the Lakers have ever LED in this

Game it’s one of those same play we saw saw earlier in the fourth quarter little guard to guard screen Austin Reeves gets to the outside and now in all this space you swing it and you punish the guard for helping over toward D’Angelo Russell great job by Austin Reeves little

Floater before the help can come same play for Milwaukee that we just saw and it’s going to turn into another isolation clear out they keep going after Austin Reeves finally someone makes one of these jumpers that’s just a really tough shot I think the Lakers defense lives with that furthermore I

Think in the long run from for Milwaukee if you’re getting these shots down the stretch of key games against good defenses these are not winning shots ruy just sneaks in there exact same play again h pick and roll into the handoff for Middleton beautiful lob this time Giannis got behind Anthony Davis that’s

That’s the shot you want from Milwaukee Lakers go to pick and pop and D Davis with another three Anthony Davis with his third huge three down the stretch of this game that one was like a Plinko bounce in priceis right it hit all parts of the rim and

Then finally went in this time the Bucks changed the play a little bit the screen from Giannis and then Lillard instead of pitching it to Middleton gets a screen from him catches them off guard defense has to collapse swing to an open Lopez but again is it a is a 27t Brook Lopez

Shot that’s Spencer dwit he’s first three pointer of the game well I’ll say this the the Lopez open three from 27 ft is probably higher percentage offense than this Spencer didn’t witty shot but sometimes Big Shot big moment you’re feeling it oo so the Bucks got exactly

What they wanted out of that action this is the same setup that they’ve been using Lillard gets a screen from Yannis Middleton’s there for a potential handoff but what they’re really looking for is this screen green away for Malik Beasley Beasley that’s his shot great look to tie the game just too

Strong and you can start to see the fatigue setting in for the Lakers they don’t get into this possession until there’s 12 seconds on the clock and that’s why the whole thing ends up just going nowhere Boy Tough shot from Lillard and I think you have to look for

Giannis there he had a cross match with D’Angelo Russell Anthony Davis down near the basket and they get yet another one of these contested mid-range shots great tip out by Ana Deo they’re going to go back to this Davis Reeves pick and roll to get the switch this time the pass

Comes and ruy haimura that’s the power of the skip pass they’re putting Dame Lillard in the action when he has to switch like that Bobby poris slides over to try to scram out Dame Lillard because big mismatch with Anthony Davis and that opening is what Austin Reeves hits

Brilliantly to spring ruy on the drive no one big is left remember the Bucks also have a small lineup too so you Giannis at Center you get Anthony Davis at Center Bobby poris is another big but it’s not the same thing as Brook Lopez especially when the Lakers play ruy at the four

Oh good look from Beasley that time at The Rim just could not finish it and this is going to be three free throws for Damen Lillard on that little handoff action I’m not sure there was any contact hard to see from that angle but nonetheless you put a great

Free throw shooter at the line in a big situation and of course Dame makes all three to put Milwaukee back in front and then dwit he gets downhill and there another tough call with 32 seconds left like whichever way this goes is huge ball goes off Middleton’s foot 15 to shoot

Reeves and he get the same call back that just got the free throws on the other end the little body action into him as he curled off the screen just a ton of symmetry in this game he makes both and now the Lakers a one-point lead High pick and

Roll Davis switches Davis wow blocks Lillard and they swing it around just a perfect look and of course Dam and Lillard he of many many big shots in NBA history what a back and forth game 14 seconds so what we’ve seen is D’Angelo Russell or Austin Reeves in that pick

And roll with Davis or in guard guard action this time it’s Russell they use ruy as the screener they get a switch onto Jay Crowder another foul it’s an interesting idea I think to isolate Crowder and attack him with Russell and I don’t think Crowder commits the foul it’s

Chris Middleton on the reach across the arm and it’s 117 all so the Bucks have three seconds and if we go back to the end of the third quarter you can see Anthony Davis is sort of exhausted coming back down the court and that means Austin Reeves is stuck trying to

Box out Giannis he gets an offensive rebound and puts it back at the buzzer so the Bucks have already had a buzzer beater in this game the Lakers had a similar thing on the last play of the first quarter with Davis back cutting Giannis slipping in for that put back

Dunk opportunity at the buzzer so each team with buzzer beaters all kinds of symmetry on fouls and craziness that takes us to 3 seconds left and this play it’s Lillard and guess who Anthony Davis again he has just completely altered so many possessions down the stretch of

This game and this is the thing about the Lakers that is so strange as they sit in the playin position this season in big games against the best teams really physical teams Anthony Davis just has this gear to take away their best option in this case it’s his matchup

With Giannis and the pick and roll actions with Lillard and specifically Lillard and Giannis which is the pet play that the Bucks want to run that time just a heroic block more free basketball and keep fatigue in the back of your head we saw Davis lumbering earlier at points in the third quarter

Earlier in the game and he’s played like all but five or six minutes of this game Lakers using ruie as the screener again this feels like a very deliberate change as Bobby poris in instead of Jay Crowder they get the switch DLo short again I don’t know if that’s the

Greatest shot out of that so credit Bobby poris and then poris with the seal but he misses the bunny and it’s yet another save block from Anthony Davis who doesn’t even look like he can run this is this is like a vintage Anthony Davis performance he is both

Injured and dominating and then a poor pass just a just a straight giveaway from Spencer Den witty it is not been his night oh and a great look and now I’m I’m getting tired watching the Lakers spamming this action where they keep attacking Bobby poris but they’re only getting step back

Threes out of it another chance DW he goes right by Lillard misses the layup and Lillard passes on a mid-ranger to get a better look and it’s another Beasley Miss and I always wonder about fatigue in these spots there’s been one whistle in double overtime massive

Minutes this is a really long stint for these players most of them have been out there forever and what does that do to your three-point percentages in that moment is it really a 40% shot in the corner I mean they they can’t even get back nobody can guard anybody right now

They already have poris in isolation here so no need to screen Giannis is low at the basket another step back three and that’s part of fatigue is settling it just it doesn’t you don’t have the mustard you don’t have the energy to put it on the

Deck and Drive by the guy in front of you now Giannis against Davis they don’t have to help he gets a spin and this is this is a foul and this is a weird call because Davis hits him on the arm on the reach that’s the foul and then Giannis because he’s stuck

At the last second changes his mind to pass that’s a little weird to me feels like it should be a shooting foul but maybe a break for the Lakers maybe not because of giannis’s free throw shooting another open three for Beasley and he’s a great shooter but maybe part of being a great

Shooter is you make them when you’re exhausted you make them when the stakes are really high oh Lillard pick six multiple defensive issues and breakdowns for him and Milwaukee down the stretch of this game but that was a huge play but then no one is back look

At the look at the situation no one’s in the paint Reeves gets a layup and this is just part of the fatigue if we run it back almost no bucks are inside the three-point line as Spencer DW he goes to drive and then on the close out Lillard doesn’t really seem to

Understand where Reeves is none of the other three bucks understand they need to help at the basket and in the blink of an eye we are tied what a game there’s the two-man pick and roll Beautiful Finish By Giannis he got behind ad that time no size at The Rim

That’s what you want and the same issue the exact same issue the Bucks just have Lillard I mean Den witty goes by Lillard like he’s a traffic cone probably should have made the layup Bobby poris there to save it and foul the Bucks challenged this by the

Way to see if it was in the act of shooting it was in the active shooting indeed so didn’t what he makes both we are tied again with a minute left High pick and roll two-man game Giannis into Davis and the length Alters the shot Russell with a huge

Block and now Giannis going at Davis in the post in ISO that’s not going to work incredible performance by Anthony Davis with other players maybe outside of bam Giannis gets a great look in those situations and and Austin Reeves I mean we saw this down the stretch last year in the playoffs he

Loves big shots finally makes one of those oh wow this is Davis again look at this Giannis sets the screen higher to throw off the defense but Davis is out beyond the three-point line he’s ready for it and then Ard can’t even get the shot off and then he recovers on the

Relocate give Spencer dwy great credit for switching there picks up the cheap foul but they were looking for that quick hitting three off the pullup and Anthony Davis it’s just he feels like he’s everywhere in these games it’s games like this when people talk about cheat codes defensively that’s a huge

Offensive rebound from Giannis but now he’s at the line and You’ got this adventure first one is no good Reggie Miller on the broadcast talking about how giannis’s Miss can come in any direction it’s so cold because he’s like still a 60s something per free throw shooter but

You’re just expecting him to Clank it in every different direction two huge misses and with 22 seconds the Bucks basically have to foul they’re looking for the steel first they fouled D’Angelo Russell he’s too good of a free throw shooter he makes the free throws and that basically puts

This game on ice an incredible performance on the Lakers side Reeves 29 Points 14 boards 10 assists Malik Beasley hits a three to cut it to two but the Bucks need a steal on the inbounds they don’t get it ad missed a ton of shots three for eight from

Downtown 12 for 31 from the floor especially in the first half he had a couple grenades but finishes with 34 points 23 rebounds four blocks just incredible defense down the end of the game there Giannis with 29 Points 21 rebounds 11 assists three blocks two steals but he had seven turnovers and a

Ton of them were against Anthony Davis and especially down the stretch of this game between fatigue and AD just was not able to impart his will as you want from your Superstar offensive player like that just one for six from the free throw line hope you enjoyed this one it was wild it

Was crazy thanks as always for watching all the way and of course I hope you are having a great day