Young sends sharp-shooting Lakers past Bucks
MILWAUKEE -- Nick Young scored 26 points and Lou Williams added 21 as the Los Angeles Lakers withstood a furious comeback attempt for a 122-114 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks Friday night at the Bradley Center.
Young went 8 of 11 from the floor and drilled five 3-pointers as the Lakers (19-37) shot 52 percent and got double-digit scoring efforts from six players.
Playing their first game since Jabari Parker was lost for the season, the Bucks (22-30) received a career-high 41 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo and shot 53.3 percent. Milwaukee went 8 for 27 from beyond the arc while the Lakers sank 15 of 30, including six in the first quarter.
Los Angeles scored 47 points on 81.8 percent shooting in the quarter, the Lakers' highest single-session total in either category and the highest by any team in one quarter this season.
Antetokounmpo scored 17 and the Bucks connected at a 55-percent clip in the first half but couldn't do anything to stop Los Angeles on the defensive end. Milwaukee trailed by as many as 23 before going into halftime trailing 76-55.
Milwaukee actually outscored the Lakers in the third, but Los Angeles hit five more 3s and took a 19-point lead into the fourth.
But the Bucks rallied against the Lakers' bench and, using a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to nine at 105-96 when Malcolm Brogdon converted a three-point play with 6:59 to play. The play forced Lakers coach Luke Walton to go back to his starters.
D'Angelo Russell missed a 3-pointer and Brogdon followed with a layup to make it a seven-point game with 6:28 to play. Young's free throw put the Lakers back up by 10 and Russell followed with a three-point play of his own to make it a 111-98 game with 4:48 left.
The Bucks weren't quite done, though as a running lay-up from Greg Monroe made it a five-point game with under a minute to play.
NOTES: Thon Maker joined the starting lineup in place of Jabari Parker, who was lost for the season when he tore his left ACL in Milwaukee's loss to Miami on Wednesday night. It was the third career start for Maker, who has appeared in 26 games and averaged 2.9 points and 1.2 rebounds in 5.7 minutes. ... Khris Middleton remained on the bench and was expected to see between 15-20 minutes of action in his second game back from a left hamstring injury suffered before training camp. ... C Roy Hibbert was inactive for the Bucks but C Spencer Hawes suited up for the first time since both players were acquired last week from Charlotte. ... Lakers G Jordan Clarkson suffered a sprained right thumb Wednesday night at Detroit and was listed as questionable against Milwaukee. ... The Lakers have lost seven of their last 10 meetings with the Bucks, as well as seven of their last 10 contests in Milwaukee.