MILWAUKEE — The Los Angeles Lakers (11-2) beat the Milwaukee Bucks (1-11) 123-112 on Wednesday night, and Luka Dončić kept the scoring run going with 32 points.
Dončić went 10-of-25 from the field and 5-of-12 from three, with 5 assists and 5 rebounds, for 32 points — 425 in his last 11 games. Austin Reaves added 18 points, and Sandro Mamukelashvili had 23 off the bench on 9-of-15 shooting, 5-of-8 from three. Walker Kessler had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Matisse Thybulle added 8 points and 3 steals.
The shooting told the story. The Lakers shot 46.3 percent from the field (44-of-95) to the Bucks’ 43.2 percent (35-of-81), and 37.5 percent from three (15-of-40) to Milwaukee’s 34.2 percent (13-of-38). The Bucks were better at the line, 87.9 percent (29-of-33) to the Lakers’ 87.0 percent (20-of-23), but Los Angeles won the ball: 32 assists to 25, 48 rebounds to 40, 19 offensive boards to 14, and 14 steals to 10. Turnovers were even at 17 apiece.
The Lakers took control in the second quarter, going into halftime up 61-50 after a first quarter that ended 30-28. Austin Reaves hit two free throws to make it 52-43, Sandro Mamukelashvili hit a 23-foot three from the left corner off Walker Kessler for 55-45, and Reaves drove for a hook shot to make it 57-48 with 1:15 left. Tyler Herro kept Milwaukee in it with a 32-foot three, but the Lakers went into the break up 11. It had been tight early — Luka Dončić’s two free throws with 53.8 seconds left in the first made it 30-26, Jaime Jaquez Jr. answered with two of his own to cut it to 30-28, and Ryan Rollins missed a 26-footer at the buzzer.
Tyler Herro led Milwaukee with 27 points on 8-of-16 shooting, 9-of-10 from the line, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 25 off the bench, 9-of-9 from the line. Kyle Kuzma had 9, and Kel’el Ware and B. Burries had 8 each.
Bronny James played four minutes off the Lakers’ bench and scored 4 points, all from the free-throw line.
The Lakers play at Phoenix on Sunday.
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