Watch Los Angeles Lakers @ Milwaukee Bucks in the early hours of Friday morning, live on Sky Sports Action (1am)
Tuesday 17 December 2019 08:01, UK
Giannis Antetokounmpo said the Milwaukee Bucks are focused on their next test, a marquee match-up with the Los Angeles Lakers, after their 18-game win streak was snapped by the Dallas Mavericks.
The Bucks' impressive run was halted on Monday night when Seth Curry and Kristaps Porzingis each scored 26 points to help the Mavericks hang on for a 120-116 victory even without star guard Luka Doncic.
Milwaukee, who dropped to 24-4 with their first loss since November 8 (a 103-100 setback at Utah), host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers (24-3) in the early hours of Friday morning, live on Sky Sports, in a match-up of conference leaders.
"It is going to be a test for us," said Giannis Antetokounmpo, who led the Bucks with 48 points and 14 rebounds. "The Lakers are one of the best teams in the league. We have got to play good basketball. We have got to move the ball. Obviously, as a team, we do not want to lose two in a row."
The winning streak was the Bucks longest since a franchise-record 20 consecutive victories by the 1970-71 championship team that featured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor, and Oscar Robertson.
Dallas led comfortably for most of the fourth quarter until the final half-minute. Tim Hardaway Jr hit the second of two free throws to make it 119-114 with 7.6 seconds left. Antetokounmpo scored on a lay-up and was fouled, but missed the free throw. Sterling Brown grabbed the offensive rebound, but his put-back was blocked by Porzingis.
"I am proud of the way the guys fought to the very last second tonight," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "To find a way to be close in the fourth quarter and have an offensive rebound and give ourselves a chance, I think it is just a sign of the competitive nature of this group."
Doncic sat out with a sprained right ankle, while the Bucks were missing injured point guard Eric Bledsoe.
Milwaukee trailed 86-76 entering the fourth quarter and pulled to 99-92 before Porzingis hit back-to-back three-pointers from long range. The Bucks got no closer until the final 23 seconds.
"I hit those two deep threes but even then, Giannis was right there in front of me," Porzingis said. "They know we are a pretty good shooting team. But we have so many weapons and anybody on any given night can score 20-plus points. That is the dangerous thing about us. Tonight, Seth played great. It is kind of hard to play against a team that has so many options."
"I have been in this league a long time and an 18-game winning streak is a spectacular demonstration of how good a team is," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said.
"But you are not going to win every game to finish the season. We just felt that if we came out and really concentrated on ourselves, with a pretty simple game plan, we would give ourselves a chance."
Click the video at the top of the page to watch the best plays from Giannis Antetokounmpo's 48-point performance
