Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LAKERS POSTCAST Giannis too much for the Shorthanded Lakers

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points and Gary Trent Jr. added 23 points off the bench as the Milwaukee Bucks blew out the shorthanded Lakers 118-89. The Lakers, playing without Luka, LeBron, and Austin Reaves, were led by Bronny James and Dalton Knecht, who had 17 points apiece. The Lakers will look to get back on track Saturday night when they welcome the Chicago Bulls to town. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points and Gary Trent Jr. added 23 points off the bench as the Milwaukee Bucks blew out the shorthanded Lakers 118-89. The Lakers, playing without Luka, LeBron, and Austin Reaves, were led by Bronny James and Dalton Knecht, who had 17 points apiece. The Lakers will look to get back on track Saturday night when they welcome the Chicago Bulls to town.Lakers, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Rui, Hachimura Austin Reeves, Dalton Knecht, NBA, Lakers Post cast, JJ Redick, Dave Palet, Lakers vs Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers vs Milwaukee Bucks Support Us, By Supporting Our Sponsors!Robinhood GoldWith Robinhood Gold you now enjoy the VIP treatment, receiving 3% IRA match on retirement contributions. The privileges of the privileged are no longer exclusive. With Robinhood Gold your annual IRA contributions are boosted by 3%, plus you also get 4% APY on your account in non-retirement accounts. That’s over 8 times the national savings average. The perks of the high net worth are now available for any net worth.The new gold standard is here with Robinhood Gold. To receive your 3% boost on annual IRA contributions, sign up at robinhood.com/goldInvesting involves risk. Rate subject to change. 3% match requires Robinhood Gold. At $5 a month for one year from first match, must keep funds in IRA for 5 years. Go to robinhood.com/boost. Over 8x the average national average savings account interest rate claim is based on data from the FDIC as of November 18, 2024. Robinhood Financial LLC (member SIPC). Gold membership is offered by Robinhood Gold, LLC.GAMETIMELooking for tickets to your next big event? Whether it's a concert, a comedy show, or a sports game, finding the right ticket at the right price can be a headache. But with Gametime Picks, it’s never been easier. Let me tell you how it works.With Gametime Picks, the app does all the hard work for you. It curates the best deals, so you don’t have to waste time searching through endless ticket listings.I’ve been using Gametime Picks for a while now, and here’s why I love it:The curated deals make it super simple to find great tickets at a great price—no more sifting through thousands of options.The seat view feature is a game-changer. Before I even hit “buy,” I can see exactly what my seat will look like in the venue. It’s so reassuring.And the best part? You’re covered with Gametime’s lowest price guarantee—if you find a better deal somewhere else, they’ll refund 110% of the difference. Plus, your tickets are guaranteed to be delivered on time, with easy cancellation options if something comes up.Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-B-A for $20 off. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You are a Locked-on Lakers podcast. Part of Locked-on Sports Los Angeles on the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. No, LeBron, no Luca, no chance for the Lakers tonight against the Bucks. As the Bucks win, 1-1889 over the short-handed Lakers, disappointing as the Lakers, their four-game winning street comes to an end. At the same time, Lakers get a day off tomorrow before hosting the Chicago Bulls on Saturday when they try and do it again with more of a full squad than what we saw tonight.

Hi, I'm Dave Palais. Again, thank you so much for joining me on the Lakers Postcast, part of the Locked-on Los Angeles Network. Of course, you can follow the Lakers every single day with Brian and Andy. You want to get all your Laker information every single day. Those guys are there for you. I'm here just for the postcast, but at the same time, love talking Laker basketball with you, even after a loss.

And it's extremely disappointing when we say even after a loss because it felt like the Lakers didn't have a chance even to compete. heat tonight. And so that's the frustrating thing as far as the way the game went. As soon as we saw the lineups, we're a little bit confused, a little bit disappointed. When you look at the Lakers and you look at what they had to sit there and compete with, well, you realize LeBron's out, Luke is out, Austin Reeves is out, Ruiz out, Dorian Finney Smith is out. Basically, six of the seven top Lakers didn't play tonight, weren't even dressed. And so for the Lakers in a situation, and really they didn't have much of a chance to compete.

And so when we talk about different things in the game and how we break things down and maybe where things went right and things went wrong, we have a segment called the turning point. So let's get to that right at the beginning because I think the turning point happened right at the beginning of the game. Time to reveal where the game was won or lost. It's the turning point.

Hey, to say, turning point was when the lineup came out. We found out exactly what the lineup was going to be. Again, you're looking at a Laker team that didn't really have a chance to compete tonight. Your starting lineup was Marquief Morris, Jackson Hayes, Gabe Vincent, Jordan Goodwin, Dalton Connect. Those were your top five tonight. And it's crazy to think Jackson Hayes is your one everyday starter that you can depend on. And he's the one we're relying on. Whereas at the beginning of the year, if you would have said

Jackson Hayes was a guy like, hey, we got one of our starters in the game. It's Jackson Hayes. He would say, what happened? And here we are. It's, you know, March 20th. And the Lakers are in a situation where Marquif Morris, who barely plays, all of a sudden, and he's starting. He's getting 28 minutes. Jackson Hayes only plays 16 at a 48. Gabe Vincent, who plays great off the bench. He had 25.

Jordan Goodwin, and we all love him. Hey, he played 31 minutes, and then Dalton Connect with 30. And that's what you had. And then you see a bunch of guys that come in off the bench, and your bench tonight got even crazier. Cam Reddish, who never plays, played 22 minutes tonight. Alex Lynn, I won't even say arguably, I'll tell you. He's the worst player in the NBA.

Alex Lynn had 16 minutes. Trey Jemison, he's back from illness. He had 15, shake Milton, 23, and Brony James had 30. We'll break down Bronny's James game because I think there was a plus. And it wasn't just a complete, let's just throw the game away kind of a deal. I think it was a little bit of a plus right there for the Lakers as far as what we see in the growth of Bronny James. And how much will it help the team this year? Can't say it's going to help them a lot.

If you miss the beginning of the game, we'll talk about where things kind of started where they went out of hand and how the Lakers made a run. Look, the first quarter, Bucks win this quarter, 3419. But it wasn't really that simple. Lakers went on a 9-0 run to tie the game early on, and you're feeling pretty good. But the problem is the Bucks answer with a 16-0-0 run to make the score 30 to 14. The Bucks finished the quarter on a 20-to-5 run. And right then you're feeling, man, did the Lakers have anything left in the tank? And they show later on they did have a little bit of fight in him.

Lakers were led in the quarter by two guys. Jackson Hays, he had four big points. And Gabe Vincent, he had four big points. A lot different than when Luca plays, right? When we're talking about Luca getting 20 points in the first school, quarter. All of a sudden, your top scores are two guys that have four, four points in the first quarter, and those are your leading scores. Bucks were led by former Laker Kyle Kuzma's eight Gary Trent Jr's eight off the bench. We heard a lot from Gary Trent Jr. tonight.

Disappointing because there's a lot of rumors over the years that Gary Trent Jr. was going to be a Laker at one point or another. Lakers didn't shoot well in the first quarter. They shot 38 percent, 14 percent from three-point range, one or seven. They looked like they were a complete disarray right from the beginning. You could tell this. group doesn't play together very often, let alone play against one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. Bucks out, they shot 50%, 40% from three-point range, made six to seven free throws. We'll get into the free throw thing as well for the Lakers. Again, it continues to be disappointing. So like there's an excuse for it. Rebounds, Bucks 14, Lakers 9, assists. Lakers 6, buck seven,

bench points. Lakers had nine, Bucks had eight. I think all of our points tonight should count as bench points, by the way. Turnovers, Lakers three, Bucks two. quarter though. Lakers, guess what? They outscored the bucks in the second quarter. Lakers outscored the bucks 27, 23, 10-11 remaining in the first half. The Lakers were trailing as many as 43 to 20, 23 point lead with 10 minutes remaining in the first half and going, what are we doing? Why should I say with the TV, especially the March Madness? Well, Brony James is part of the game. And if you're like me, you're curious. 3.30 remaining in the second quarter of Brony, James, he drills a three-pointer, brings the Laker deficit down to

53, 44, within nine, feeling pretty good. Two minutes remaining, the Lakers cut that lead down to eight on Markief Morris's layup. And overall, not saying, hey, I feel like the Lakers are going to win, but there's going to be a game. There's going to be something to watch in the second half. So at the half, Bucks lead 57, 46, getting the Lakers put another run together to possibly shock Milwaukee and really give a big boost to the players that needed the rest. Not complaining that, look, the players that they needed a rest and this and that, I understand that. We'll talk more about it. But look, Lakers were led at the half,

Bronny James. He had eight points off the bench. If I were to tell you, Bronny James is going to lead the Lakers in scoring in the first half before the game, you'd be shocked. Well, he did just that. Bucks were led by Gary Trent Jr.

is 14 off the bench. He honest, he had 13. Lakers shot 42% in the first half did much better. 6 and 17 from 3 point range. Obviously, they cleaned it up a little bit. They missed five free throws, though, in the first half. Disappointing again, these are NBA players and they missed five free throw.

throws always becomes a little bit frustrating. Buckshot 46%, 35% from three point range. They made seven to 20, and they made eight to 10 free throws. So for the Lakers, they got a little bit better. The second quarter was big for the Lakers, and I think for the guys maybe, as you never know, you have to count on in case of injury, as we've seen with a veteran team, Lakers out rebounded the Bucks in the half, 23, 22. Lakers had more assists in the Bucks, 14 to 12 bench points. Lakers had more of those, 20 to 17. Turnovers, Lakers at 8. Bucks had six. Fast break points. This is where it got kind of ugly. Bucks had 12. Lakers only at two and points in the paint. Not a big deal. Bucks 24. Lakers 20. But again, Lakers losing at the half by a score of 5746. We'll come back. We'll get to more of the stuff that happened as far as not only the things that make a difference in the game, also have a big opinion about guys who sit on the bench, especially in March, when obviously you want every win possible for this Laker team. But, For the Lakers, look, it's frustrating to lose,

frustrating to throw a winning streak away, frustrating to throw, I believe it was a nine-game winning streak away at home. But it's one of those things where the Lakers, look, the schedule was six games in eight days, and you come back on Saturday and you have another game as well. So there's a lot that's going on there with this Laker team and his Laker fans. It's frustrating that we lose a game. We never want to see our team lose,

but at the same time, you understand the method to the madness and why J.J. Reddick had to go that route. We'll talk more about than a second. And as I said, I'll get to your comments as well. But I do want to mention, of course, the people over at Robin Hood. Again, Robin Hood Gold, those guys do a fantastic job. Recommend it to you as well. I hope I can pull that commercial up.

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The new gold standard is here with Robin Hood Gold to receive your 3% boost on annual IRA contribution, sign up at robin hood.com slash gold. Investing involves risk, of course, rate subjects right there as far as our subject should change 3% match requires Robin Hood gold at $5 a month for one year for smash must keep funds in IRA for five years go to Robinhood.com forward slash boost over eight times the national average savings account interest rate claim is based on data from the FDIC as of November 18th 2024 Robin Hood financial LLC gold membership is offered at Robin Hood gold LLC. All right. So when you look at the Lakers,

again, frustrating tonight. I'm frustrated like all of you are, but at the same time, this Laker team, they need to sit there and figure out a way to win, when the situation basically isn't in their favor. And for guys who are on the bench and get an opportunity to play, can these guys show why they deserve more minutes? So overall, as it said, the Lakers, they struggled, and the Lakers weren't able to pull it together. Lakers actually outscored in the third quarter, 3423, at that point, the score is 91, 16. The game is out of hand. Lakers are down by 22 points. And the best point for the Lakers was with 617 remaining in the third, they cut that lead down to 9.

It was 68, 59, but overall the Bucks took complete control of the game. And overall, for the Lakers, it just wasn't enough. 9169 when you talk about a talented team, Damien Lillard was not playing tonight, but at the same time, the Lakers had no match. The turning point for me in the game, 305 remaining was when Gary Trent Jr. who had been fantastic the whole night long, basically hit a big shot for the Lakers. And for me, this is the moment.

Time to reveal where the game was won or lost. It's the turning point. All right, turning point again, 305 remaining Gary Trent Jr.'s three-pointer, Bucks lead 83, 63. It's about done. At this time, Yonis, he has 15 points in the quarter to give him 28 through three. Gary Trent Jr., he had nine in the quarter to give him 23. and it was all set and done right there. For the Lakers, it was a frustrating night. Not a lot to go by right there for this team as the Lakers continued to struggle. Here's my argument back is when you look at what the Lakers were trying to do,

and as far as the Lakers moving forward, you say, okay, we played a bunch of games. You have a four-game winning streak. Give the Bulls. Then you have this road trip that you have to go on starting next week. You have a road trip where you're going to end up facing the Orlando Magic on, Monday. And then at the same time, you're going to have a game on Wednesday against the Pacers. And then you can have the Bulls next Thursday in Chicago. So they have a road trip. And at the same time, you understand why JJ Reddick says, look, we're going to rest guys. This is the time to do it.

You do it on the second game of back-to-backs. And they get today off. They get Friday off. And then Saturday they face the Bulls. They'll get Sunday off. Of course, they're going to have to travel to Orlando. But it's a much need to rest. Really, JJ Redick didn't have much of a point, you know, or choice, I should say. This is exactly what he had to do. And overall, it was one of those where you said, okay, here's where we're at. This is what the Lakers are going to do. And they died with it.

It just didn't work. 1189 is a complete blowout, completely embarrassing. Now, here's what I want to get to tonight as far as a question for you as a fan. This is what you'll be talking about. As a fan, let's say you bought tickets for tonight's game. Okay. And you're saying, hey, the bucks only come to town. once a year. I'm going to see Janice. I'm going to see Damon

Lilliter. I'm going to see Luca. I'm going to see LeBron. I'm going to see Austin Reeves. I'm going to see the guys. I'm going to see the guys that make me want to go out and buy a jersey. I'm going to see the guys that if you have kids, my kids have been talking about. I want to see. How many times you get a chance to see this many future Hall of Famers on the floor at the same time? I'm going to spend the money. And Laker games are expensive, right? For everybody, it doesn't matter who you are, it's expensive.

And when you see the celebrities that were at the game today, guarantee you they were disappointed to. I'm not worried about them. I'm worried about the average shows like you and I. If you sit there and you say, I'm putting my money out to watch, you know, LeBron, who you saw working out before the game, if you watched the game on television, Luca, he knows healthy, but they decided to give him a day off. Austin Reeves healthy. Damon Lillard doesn't go.

And basically, Janus is the only big-time star that you see on the floor. Are you frustrated to the point of what can he possibly do? Are you to the point where you're saying, you know what? Maybe I deserve a little bit of my money back or the Lakers owe me something in return, but this is not what you paid for when you bought the tickets. So it might sound one of those. There's no solution to it. But man,

it is a big gamble to sit there and say, I'm going to put my money out for a game to see stars in the NBA when they don't show, when they aren't on an injured list or whatever. It's not like baseball where, you know, somebody hurts their elbow and you go, well, that guy's out for 10 games. And you have a notice of what's going to happen.

This is one of those where if you bought tickets, you kind of are stuck. You kind of just lost your money because your entertainment value of what you thought you're going to see wasn't close to what you saw. And that becomes, you know, frustrating at the same time. Nobody ever wants to feel ripped off. But it kind of feels that way like you're ripped off.

So curious to know what you think as, as fans as well. Let's get to, let's get to some of your comments. Hey, Craig, always good to see you, man. I always see Craig, the first name up there every single day. Craig, appreciate you've been with me all year long. Lakers are young. They got some time on the battlefield. That was a great thing.

At the same time, I'd like to see wins. I understood everything that happened tonight. I just hate losing. I hate throwing games away. Sean says that was a brutal game. It was. It was. And, you know, he uses the phrase we got murdered. Yeah, basketball terms, they absolutely did.

G League squad tonight, Craig. This was not what you think about when you think of the NBA. It was a complete mess. And these guys look like they are never paired together in scrimmages when these guys are going back and forth. And they're playing their games and they're trying to figure out exactly, you know, what is the best combination? This is not the combination you see against the Lakers starters in practice. I can almost guarantee it.

And so that's the frustrating thing as far as what's going on with this team. And for us, it was one of those. We live and die with this team on a regular basis. And today was one of those days where we just ate it. We just ate it and it didn't go well. And it wasn't fun at all. There was nothing about that. That was fun for us as fans at all on this team.

And unfortunately, it just didn't go our way. So, well, what can you do? We try to get it on Saturday when they face the Bulls and hopefully feel a little bit better. Hey, I want to mention the people over at Game Time, then we'll go through the lockdown player of the game. I want to mention the guys over at Game Time. There's nothing like watching basketball live,

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Download the game time app. What time is it? It's game time. All right. Let's look at that box score right here. And we'll figure things out as far as who you think is the player of the game. Now, the player of the game, obviously, with Milwaukee winning 1189, you're going to think player of the game has to be a Milwaukee buck.

Well, guess what? I'll tell you the player of the game is right now. This is the locked on player of the game. Forget that garbage with the Milwaukee Bucks. We weren't doing Milwaukee Bucks. This isn't a Bucs postcast. We weren't doing that. We're going Lakers all the way.

We always go Lakers in this one. And look, there was a plus here. There was a plus here. And it was Brony James. I could sit there and say Daltz and connect at the same amount of points. as Brony James, a little disappointed. Be honest with you. When I saw the guys who were going to start tonight for the Lakers, I said Dalton Connect, I expected a really big night.

Actually started off extremely slow, didn't get a lot of minutes in the first half because he was playing that bad. Maybe he was beat. And Dalton Connect wasn't as fresh as the Lakers that hoped he could be. He finished with 17, but guess what? Bronny James had 17 off the bench. And anyone who's not a Bronny James fan, you can think whatever you want. Brian James in 30 minutes, he shot 70% from the field.

seven to ten shots he made. He made two, three-pointers shooting 50%. He made his one free throw he attempted. Not a bad night. He had five assists. So here you go. Bronny James, final numbers of the night. 17 points, three rebounds, five assists, and he did that in 30 minutes. That was a big plus. Not saying you're going to see Bronny James all of a sudden get crazy minutes for this team down the stretch. But look, he's moving forward in his career and his Laker fans, what else could he ask for is for him to possibly get better. So at the same time, that's where it was for the Lakers. Their player of the game is Bronny James. Didn't think that was going to happen the entire season.

But guess what? It just happened. We'll be back, though. Look, on Saturday, after the Lakers take care of the Chicago Bulls, we hope that happens pretty easily because, man, these losses stink, especially now that we're spoiled and we're used to this team winning. So at the same time, we want to see this Laker team get a win. And we want to see the Lakers continue their basic success at home

before they head out on the road against teams like Orlando, Indiana, and Chicago. But I'll see everybody Saturday night. Thank you so much for being with me. Lakers lose 1189 to the Milwaukee Bucks.