Lakers Beat Bucks 123-112 as Doncic Scores 32 in Seventh Straight Win
Luka Doncic scored 32 points, Sandro Mamukelashvili added 23 off the bench and Austin Reaves chipped in 18 as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 123-112 at Fiserv Forum on Wednesday night, stretching their winning streak to seven games and improving to a league-best 11-2.
The victory made the Lakers the first team in the NBA to reach 11 wins this season. The Bucks, meanwhile, fell to 1-11 with an eighth consecutive defeat — the ninth time this season they have lost by a double-digit margin.
The win came at a cost. Reaves left the game in the third quarter with a left heel injury, and Doncic turned his right ankle late in the fourth quarter and did not return. Collin Sexton was also hurt during the game, leaving the Lakers to count the cost of a night that had looked comfortable for much of the second half.
Doncic leads the way again
Doncic finished with 32 points, five rebounds and five assists, shooting 10 of 25 from the field and 5 of 12 from three-point range. It was another heavy workload for the Slovenian guard, who has carried much of the Lakers’ scoring during the streak — including Doncic’s 53-point night against Portland last week, when Los Angeles rallied past the Trail Blazers 124-118.
Mamukelashvili matched a season high with 23 points, a mark he had also set on Monday at Atlanta. Reaves, back in the side after missing Monday’s game through illness, scored 18 points in 32 minutes before his night ended early.
The Lakers dominated the offensive glass, collecting 19 offensive rebounds to Milwaukee’s 14, and finished with 32 assists and 13 steals. The Associated Press reported that Los Angeles pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Bucks 33-23 to take a 94-73 lead into the final period.
Bucks start fast, then fade
Milwaukee made the brighter start, jumping out to a 7-2 lead before the Lakers answered with a 9-0 run to move in front. The Bucks stayed in touch through the first half, but the third quarter proved decisive as Los Angeles repeatedly found second chances and open looks from deep.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a season-high 23 points for the Bucks, who have now lost eight in a row and remain stuck on a single win. Milwaukee’s slide is a sharp contrast to the form that once made Fiserv Forum one of the hardest road stops in the league — the Lakers have now won on four of their past five visits to Milwaukee.
The defeat followed the Knicks’ 117-85 win over Milwaukee earlier in the week, when Karl-Anthony Towns extended his double-double streak to 10 games. The Bucks’ problems have been consistent: slow starts on defence, too many second-chance points conceded, and an offence that stalls when the game tightens.
Injury worries temper the streak
The bigger concern for the Lakers is the state of their backcourt. Reaves went down in the third quarter after landing awkwardly, and Doncic hurt his ankle with 4 minutes 25 seconds left in the fourth after contact with Kyle Kuzma’s foot following a three-point attempt.
Head coach JJ Redick had kept Doncic on the floor in the closing minutes even with the Lakers ahead by 24 points, a decision that drew questions after the ankle turn. Doncic stayed down briefly before walking off, and he did not return to the game.
Both guards have already missed time this season — Reaves to illness and Doncic to low back tightness — and the Lakers’ surge has been built largely on the pair carrying the scoring load. With a three-day break before Sunday’s game against the Phoenix Suns, the club will hope the rest is enough for both to recover.
A league-best record, for now
At 11-2, the Lakers sit clear at the top of the standings, and the seven-game streak is their longest of the young season. The win in Milwaukee was their third consecutive road victory, and Bleacher Report’s box-score breakdown underlined how balanced the performance was: five Lakers reached double figures, and the bench contributed heavily through Mamukelashvili.
The Warriors’ sixth straight win earlier in the week showed that the Western Conference race is far from settled, but for now Los Angeles has the best record in the league and the momentum to match. Whether that momentum survives the injury news from Milwaukee will become clear when the team returns to practice before Sunday.
For the Bucks, the questions are more urgent. At 1-11, with eight straight defeats and a roster searching for answers on both ends of the floor, the season is already threatening to slip away before it has properly begun.
