Perhaps it was meant to be that both the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks are entering Thursday night off of a loss as the two teams should be as hungry as possible when they face off for what could be an NBA Finals preview at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
The Lakers haven’t had a matchup of this magnitude since opening night against the Clippers but the Bucks are much more comfortable in this spot, especially on their homecourt. It was less than two weeks ago when the Clippers, with both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, got run out of the gym by the Bucks. Giannis had 27 points and 11 rebounds while the Bucks made 14 3-pointers on the night while holding George and Leonard to just 10 for 26 shooting.
One of the big questions facing the Lakers in this game is whether they will have their scoring power fully operational. Anthony Davis is considered day-to-day with a sprained ankle and his back-up Kyle Kuzma has missed the last four games with an ankle injury as well.
Of course, the Lakers still have LeBron James and some good shooters around him. And speaking of shooting, the Lakers haven’t really done that in their last two games as they’ve failed to crack 30 percent on 3-pointers in each of the last two games. Percentages suggest that should turn around but the Lakers have won plenty despite not being a great 3-point shooting team. As great as James is, the Lakers have arguably been the best team in the league with both him and Davis. So should Davis miss this, it might take some air out of the matchup.
But considering Davis plays through a lot and just had three days off, it’s likely the Lakers and Bucks give fans what they want with a potential NBA Finals preview a week before Christmas.
Nevertheless, the battle of MVPs past and present will be the dominant theme. In 18 meetings, LeBron leads Giannis 14-4 but the 2019 MVP has a little momentum in the matchup, winning two of the last three meetings.
The game will be televised nationally on TNT and it will also be shown locally in L.A. on Spectrum SportsNet.
