Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard Speak On Bucks Blowing 19-Point Lead To Lakers: ‘We Didn’t Move The Ball’

After the Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo spoke to NBA reporters about the difficult loss. 

The Bucks blew a 19-point fourth-quarter lead and lost in double-overtime by a final score of 128-124. 

“I thought where we hurt them most, the ball was moving. It was like first side, second side, attack, the ball was dictating where the shot was,” Lillard said, via The Athletic. “And I think down the stretch, we all kind of held on to it a little bit more.

“I know I held on to it a little bit more than I probably should have, at times. Same thing with Khris. Same thing with Giannis. We all just kind of wanted to right the ship and (we were) trying to be aggressive and attack, and I think it ended up hurting us in the end.”

The Bucks were outscored 27-13 by the Lakers in the fourth quarter and 11-7 in double overtime. 

“I think, start of the game, we were moving the ball really well side-to-side, there was a lot of people that was touching the ball before we shot the ball,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think in the last couple of minutes of the game, it was like one pass, shot, a lot of ISO game. Now, I don’t think it was intentional. I think they did a good job just playing great defense, switching and just having us play one-on-one.

“So, yeah, we didn’t move the ball and also wasn’t able to move them side to side. When you don’t move a team like that side-to-side, it’s hard to score on them.”

The Bucks dropped to 46-26 after losing to the Lakers. They are in second place in the Eastern Conference standings. 

Milwaukee is third in the NBA in points per game, 22nd in points per game allowed and eighth in net rating.