National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Milwaukee 94, L.A. Lakers 79
When: 10:30 PM ET, Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Officials: #35 Kane Fitzgerald, #13 Monty McCutchen, #75 Eric Dalen
Attendance: 18997

Bucks 94, Lakers 79: Brandon Knight scored a career-best 37 points and also had eight rebounds and four steals as visiting Milwaukee easily handled struggling Los Angeles.

Ersan Ilyasova added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks, who won for only the second time in the last 10 games. Knight was 15-of-25 from the field and achieved his career high by hitting two free throws with 45.4 seconds remaining.

Pau Gasol had 25 points and blocked four shots for the Lakers after missing three of the previous five games due to an upper respiratory infection. Nick Young also had 25 points and Los Angeles shot just 35.8 percent from the field while posting a season low for points en route to losing its sixth straight game.

Milwaukee scored the game’s first 14 points as the Lakers opened the contest by missing their first 11 field-goal attempts. The lead was 21-4 nine minutes into the game before Los Angeles rallied to within 42-33 at the break.

Knight stepped it up a notch with 18 third-quarter points and the Bucks lead by as many as 22 before taking a 74-60 lead into the fourth quarter. Gary Neal’s basket made it a 20-point game early in the final stanza and Milwaukee held off a late push that saw Lakers narrow the deficit to nine with less than three minutes to play.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Bucks didn’t make their first free throws of the contest until Knight made two with 5:51 remaining and finished 8-of-14. … Young has scored 20 or more points in each of the last four games. … The victory was only Milwaukee’s fourth road win over the Lakers in the last 21 attempts.
Top Game Performances
 
Milwaukee   L.A. Lakers
Brandon Knight 37 Scoring Pau Gasol 25
Larry Sanders 5 Assists Jordan Farmar 7
Ersan Ilyasova 12 Rebounds Shawne Williams 11
Brandon Knight 4 Free Throws Made Pau Gasol 7
Brandon Knight 4 Steals Jodie Meeks 2
Larry Sanders 4 Blocks Shawne Williams 5
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Milwaukee 94 44.0 6-23 8-14 17 51 4 10 9
L.A. Lakers 79 35.8 7-24 14-18 18 39 10 2 13
Upcoming Games
  • L.A. Lakers will play their next game at home against Utah. The Lakers have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.
  • Milwaukee will play their next game on the road against Utah. The Bucks have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.