NBA

The Lakers were without LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes as they faced off against the Bucks in Milwaukee, meaning Luka Dončić was going to have to carry the LA for the squad to have any shot at winning. 

And for a while he did. Luka was red hot early, putting up 29 points at the half. He got to the line, drilled a bunch of impossible 3's, and would have had a few more dimes if any of his teammates could have hit a shot. But ultimately, the game went as you'd expect, given the size of Milwaukee's frontcourt with Giannis and Brook Lopez. LA, forced to protect the paint, gave up an abundance of wide open triples, while not actually managing to secure the interior, either. 

Donćić finished with 45, including some really entertaining buckets, along with 11 rebounds. Austin Reaves broke out of his slump, scoring 28 points on 10-17 shooting to go with eight boards and three dimes. Unfortunately, the rest of the roster only contributed 33 points with Dalton Knecht (10 points) finishing as the only other Laker in double figures. 

The result was frustrating, no question, but if we're all being honest, fairly unavoidable, assuming the Bucks showed up to play. (And judging by some reports, they were fired up for a Darvin Ham Revenge Game -- Ham serves as an assistant on Doc Rivers's staff -- so that was unlikely.) It's not just that the Lakers are missing too many good players, though they are, but that they're missing too many of the same kind of good players. The entire starting frontcourt was back in LA rehabbing. It leaves the Lakers too small and talent shy at PF and C to give themselves a reasonable chance to beat good teams. 

It's not about effort or execution. The Lakers did better in both categories on Thursday than they did Monday in Brooklyn. Not good enough, obviously, but it is what it is. 

So right now, it's a waiting game. James, Hachimura and Hayes are all described as day-to-day, so hopefully they'll be back soon. In the meantime, the Lakers have to navigate a brutal upcoming schedule—they play six times between Friday's game in Denver and a home date against the Bulls on March 22—try to keep themselves squarely in the top 6, and pick up momentum again once everyone is back. 

In the interim, there's not a ton to learn. 

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