January 11th, 2010 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
Sunday night’s game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers was one of struggles for both squads. Both teams shot poorly (Los Angeles shot 40 percent while Milwaukee shot 34 percent) from the field; even Kobe Bryant struggled as he shot a woeful 4-for-21. But to be fair, he had a splint on his broken finger on his shooting hand.
Perhaps the saving grace for the Lakers was while they didn’t shoot very well, they were much more aggressive than the Bucks, going to the free throw line 30 times, as opposed to the Bucks’ 13 times. So in essence, Los Angeles found other ways to win in their 95-77 drubbing of Milwaukee at Staples Center.
The Lakers, an NBA-best 29-8, jumped out to a 24-8 lead in the opening quarter, when the Bucks were 4 of 21 from the field. They outscored Los Angeles 20-15 in the second, but the Lakers maintained a 39-28 halftime lead. Things didn’t get any better for Milwaukee as Los Angeles, while not shooting that well, managed to outscore the Bucks 26-18 in taking a 65-46 lead into the final 12 minutes. As you’ve probably assumed already, Los Angeles coasted after the 8-minute mark of the fourth quarter, securing the victory.
The Lakers “high” scorer was Shannon Brown with 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks while Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar scored 17 apiece – with Bynum grabbing 18 rebounds along with 3 blocked shots while Farmar grabbed 4 rebounds, dished out 3 assists along with a steal. The Bucks were led by Hakim Warrick from off the bench with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists while Jodie Meeks added 12 with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Los Angeles (29-8) plays again on Tuesday when they travel to San Antonio to take on the Spurs while Milwaukee (15-19) makes the short trip west to Phoenix to face the Suns on Monday night.
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