Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks wasn’t too happy after their loss against the Los Angeles Lakers on March 26. While the frustration is warranted after the Lakers shot almost double the amount of free throws the Bucks did, Milwaukee did it to themselves.
Anthony Davis clearly fouled Antetokounmpo with time expiring, a play that would’ve put the Bucks up if Antetokounmpo hit his free throws. The referees didn’t call it a foul and Antetokounmpo expressed his frustration after the game to Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
“Yeah, I don’t know. Khris threw the ball. I went up to get the ball. I really don’t want to get fined, you know, um, but, I went up to get the ball and for some reason, I wasn’t able to get the ball and wasn’t able to end the game.”
Best Win of the Season for the Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers did all they could to end with the win against the Milwaukee Bucks and that can’t be overlooked. For a game that looked over heading into the fourth quarter, the Lakers buckled down and made plays down the stretch, beating a healthy Bucks team without LeBron James.
Antetokounmpo can be frustrated about the officiating and has a point after some of the calls, but that doesn’t take anything away from what the Lakers did.
The Lakers are 40-32, sitting in 9th place in the Western Conference. Any loss during the remainder of the season will hurt the Lakers’ chances of missing the playoffs, making this an even more impressive win.
D’Angelo Russell praised Lakers head coach Darvin Ham after the game for his late-game play calling, according to Daniel Starkand of Lakers Nation.
“That was huge. Huge win for the team. Everybody pitched in. Darvin was amazing, man. He drew up some great sets for us at the end of the game and gave us some good looks. I think emotionally, we were all put in on that one. Everybody was two feet in on that game wanting to do whatever it took.”
The Bucks Should’ve Won Despite the Officiating
Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks looked to be walking to an easy win heading into the fourth quarter. While the free throw disparity for the Los Angeles Lakers was on full display again, taking 32 free throws compared to the Bucks’ 17, they should’ve won the game with relative ease after holding a big lead.
The Bucks should’ve never allowed the referees to make any calls that benefit the Lakers, which did happen down the stretch. In an even more surprising stat, Davis and Russell combined for 102 minutes and just one foul.
However, there were other reasons the Bucks lost that game outside of officiating. Bucks head coach Doc Rivers believed the lack of trust in passing was a key reason for the loss, according to Nehm.
“We didn’t trust the pass tonight. A lot of zero-pass shots or one-pass shots and when we play like that – we get away with it sometimes because guys make shots – but we lost our trust.”
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