Lakers vs. Bucks Preview and Game Thread: payback time

The Lakers look to avenge the Bucks on Thursday, who beat them by 20 just a week ago.

After a dominant wire-to-wire win against the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers are back at it on Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks. This will be their sixth game in eight nights as well as their third back-to-back in the last two weeks.

L.A. aims to split the season series against the Bucks, who blew them out on their home floor just last week.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Milwaukee Bucks

When: 7:30 PST, Mar 20

Where: Crypto.com Arena

Watch: Spectrum SportsNet

In the last matchup where Los Angeles lost by 20 points, the Lakers didn’t have LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes on the lineup. I think it’s safe to assume that Thursday’s game will be different if Hayes, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves suit up.

A casual would laugh at me for saying that Hayes’ presence would make a difference, but truth to be told, it has and it’s not a coincidence that L.A. is 3-0 since the big man’s returned from a knee injury. With Jaxson’s presence, the Lakers have at least a body to throw at Giannis Antetokounmpo this time.

That’s not to say that Hayes will clamp the Greek Freak, but at the very least, the latter and the team can make it tougher for him. Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Golden State Warriors sans Steph Curry, so there’s a good chance they’ll approach this one eager to bounce back. That and the fact that this Milwaukee team wants to beat the Lakers in honor of Darvin Ham.

But for the Lakers to win this one, they’ll need a big night from Dončić, who had 45 points in 35 minutes when these two teams last played. Perhaps it might be too much to ask for this type of performance again considering that this is the Lakers’ sixth game in eight nights, which is insane by the way.

But at this point, the Slovenian sensation has proved that there’s just nothing he can’t do on the basketball court, so it won’t be a surprise to see him play well once again on Thursday.

The key for this one will be the Lakers’ defense, which was a no-show last time. Aside from Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez had 23 points, Kevin Porter Jr. had 22 and Gary Trent had 16. Milwaukee also dominated the battle for rebounds (48-38) and second-chance points (15-4), which can’t happen again.

The Lakers need to capitalize on the little things like transition buckets, rebounds and 3-point shooting.

It would be nice to get another team effort, including Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, Jordan Goodwin and Jarred Vanderbilt, who all played well in Wednesday’s victory versus the Nuggets.

Hopefully, they outplay the Bucks’ role players because that will also dictate the outcome of the game.

The Lakers’ (43-25) current three-game winning streak has put them back on the third seed of the Western Conference. It’s good that they’ve bounced back from a horrible 0-4 stretch last week.

Now, it’ll be ideal if they either stay where they are or, even better, continue to ascend. Let’s see if they can do that with a win against the Bucks on Thursday.

Notes and Updates

• Since it’s the second night of a back-to-back, the Lakers won’t release an injury report until a couple of before tipoff. But obviously, expect Maxi Kleber (right foot surgery) and LeBron James (left groin strain) not to suit up again for this one. Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy) may not suit up for this one, but he is nearing a return.

• As for the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo (right patella tendinopathy), Damian Lillard (right groin soreness) and Gary Trent Jr. (left patella) are probable. Meanwhile, Bobby Portis (league suspension) and Jericho Sims (right thumb UCL sprain) are out.
• We will be live on Playback for this game, so be sure to join us!

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.