Lakers are still fighting to stay out of the play-in tournament

The Los Angeles have won five out of their last seven games and they hope to keep the momentum going and stay out of the Western Conference play-in tournament. They are currently 9th in the conference and teams 7-10 play in the play-in tournament to earn the right to play in the regular conference tournament.

Although the motion picture stars were honored on Sunday the professional basketball stars came out in full force last Friday night at the Crypto.com Arena. With LeBron James sidelined nursing a sprained ankle Anthony Davis came out looking to score in the first quarter, shooting 5 for 9 from the field including a two handed dunk after taking two dribbles from the three point line.

Despite Davis's outstanding effort the Lakers found themselves trailing the Milwaukee Bucks led by their star players, Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokoumpo at the end of the first quarter. With D'Angelo Russell leading the way in the second quarter the Lakers found themselves leading by four points at halftime.

The third quarter set the stage for what could be one of the Lakers' best wins of the year. The Lakers escalated the lead to nine points midway through the quarter, but the Bucks stormed back behind the play of Lillard to shave the lead to four points.

All James could do was watch from the bench as both teams battled back and forth all night trading heavyweight punches. Not even the scoring of Antetokoumpo's 34 points and Lillard's 28 points could help the Bucks overtake the Lakers who were led by Russell's career high 44 points. The final score was 123-122.

Last Sunday the Lakers continued their two-game winning streak by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves. On Wednesday they travel to play the Sacramento Kings and they return home on Saturday to face the Warriors at 5:30 p.m. on Channel 7. They remain at home to play the Hawks on Monday at 7:30 p.m.