Without LeBron and Doncic, Lakers collapse against Bucks

The Los Angeles Lakers' winning streak came to an end in the most emphatic way. The Milwaukee Bucks overwhelmed the Lakers (89-118) at Crypto.com Arena in California, putting an end to the solid run. The Lakers, however, were without several of their most important players.

From the first quarter, the Bucks went out on the court, overpowering the Lakers with a 34-19 run. Los Angeles improved slightly in the second quarter, closing the gap in the scoreboard. However, the Bucks accelerated again after the break and ended up dominating their opponents on their own home court.

The Lakers were missing their two stars. LeBron James is still recovering from injury, while Luka Doncic was ruled out with a sprained right ankle. Also not playing were Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jarred Vanderbilt.

With all those departures, Lakers head coach J.J. Reddick had to turn to the less regular players, such as Bronny James. The son of LeBron James, who alternates between the NBA and the NBA G League, was the most outstanding player for the Lakers, scoring 17 points. That same figure was also reached by Dalton Knecht.

On the visiting side, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo became the top scorer of the game, with 28 points. Also noteworthy were the offensive contributions of Gary Trent Jr. (23 points) and Kyle Kuzma (20 points). Damian Lillard did not play a single minute due to muscle discomfort.

Jimmy Butler reigns at the Chase Center

The Golden State Warriors defeated the Toronto Raptors by a slight margin (117-114) at the Chase Center in California. It was a mostly even duel that was marked by a brilliant performance from one of the best players on the home team.

Jimmy Butler had his best game with the Warriors since he landed with the team in January, sealing an impressive triple-double (16 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds) key to the victory for the Warriors. The fans also applauded the remarkable contribution of Draymond Green (21 points). Stephen Curry (17 points) saw his night end early after suffering a pelvic injury.

Throughout the rest of the night, the Indiana Pacers earned their third consecutive victory after defeating the Brooklyn Nets (105-99). Without Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin (28 points and 16 rebounds) and Myles Turner (23 points and 10 rebounds) were the best players for Indiana.

At Golden 1 Center in California, the Sacramento Kings, who had just defeated the Eastern Conference leading Cleveland Cavaliers, fell to the Chicago Bulls (116-128). Enormous offensive contributions from Coby White (35 points) and Nikola Vucevic (24 points and 14 rebounds), who was imperious under the hoop, neutralized Malik Monk's stellar scoring performance (34 points).