Jan. 10, 2026, 12:12 a.m. PT

On Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers looked to rebound from their 107-91 loss to the San Antonio Spurs two days earlier when they hosted the Milwaukee Bucks. They got LeBron James back after he missed Wednesday’s game due to left foot arthritis and sciatica, and they hoped to restart the momentum they had been building over the last week or two.

They got out to a slight early lead, but Milwaukee started to flex and built a 61-52 lead at halftime. It still led by nine to start the fourth quarter when the Lakers chopped away at that lead and eliminated it. With just over three minutes left, the Lakers were up 98-94 and seemed to be on their way to a victory.

But the Purple and Gold fell apart in crunch time. They gave up seven unanswered points, and after tying at game at 101, Luka Doncic was called for a foul on Kevin Porter Jr. when Porter attempted a 3-pointer. Porter made two of the three ensuing free throws, and after L.A. couldn’t get off a shot afterward, it ended the game with a 105-101 defeat.

This loss was a grind for the Lakers — they shot 42.9% from the field, attempted just 14 free throws, made eight of those attempts and had only three players reach double figures in scoring. It dropped the Lakers to a 23-13 record, although they remain in fifth place in the Western Conference. Oddly enough, this was their first defeat this season by a single-digit deficit, which shows how effective they’ve been in close games.

Marcus Smart: C-plus

Smart had some nice defensive plays in this game and hit three of his eight 3-point attempts, but overall, he wasn’t very effective offensively. He went 3-of-9 from the field and scored nine points in 30 minutes, while also finishing with four rebounds, two steals, one assist and two turnovers.

Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!Deandre Ayton: D

This was the kind of game where Los Angeles could’ve really used a good amount of offense, especially on easy baskets, from Ayton. But he didn’t deliver, and his teammates didn’t create easy looks for him deep in the paint.

He took just six shot attempts and made two of them, and he ended up with four points in 24 minutes. Even worse, he had only five rebounds, which was a factor in the Lakers giving up 23 second-chance points to the Bucks. Ayton also failed to block a single shot in this contest.

Defensively, he was assigned to guard Giannis Antetokounmpo. The two-time MVP scored an underwhelming 21 points and grabbed only six rebounds, but he shot 9-of-11 from the floor.

Jake LaRavia: B

LaRavia gave the Lakers enough of a boost offensively in this game. He went 5-of-8 overall and hit three of his five 3-point attempts, giving him 13 points. He also contributed two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 34 minutes.

Luka Doncic: D-plus/C-minus

Doncic struggled from the field in this game. He was 3-of-12 from the field in the first half and was 7-of-21 through three quarters, and he was never able to get things going. While he shot an excellent 4-of-6 from downtown, he was just 8-of-25 overall, which limited him to 24 points. He did, however, also have nine assists, nine rebounds, two steals and a manageable three turnovers.

The foul Doncic committed on Porter with 16.2 seconds left, according to television replays, may have been a questionable or bad foul, and it was also his sixth and final foul of the game. However, L.A. shouldn’t blame that call, even if it was wrong, for this loss — it had many other miscues on both ends of the floor that cost it this game.

LeBron James: A-minus

James went 2-of-7 from 3-point land, but other than that, he had another excellent outing, and he was, without a doubt, the best player on the court in this game. He shot 10-of-21 overall and scored 26 points, and he nearly got himself a triple-double with 10 assists and nine rebounds, to go along with three steals.

He scored nine points in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter to put the Lakers ahead after they started the period down 86-77. With L.A. down 103-101 following Doncic’s foul on Porter, James had the basketball and a chance to tie the game or give his team the lead. He started to drive to the basket, but Antetokounmpo knocked the ball away from behind and forced a turnover. That ended any chance L.A. had of pulling out a victory.

Jarred Vanderbilt: A

Vanderbilt’s activity on the boards helped the Lakers mount their fourth-quarter comeback attempt. Overall, he snatched nine rebounds, scored nine points on 4-of-7 shooting and added two assists in 27 minutes.

After going 1-of-3 from 3-point range on Friday, he’s now at 34% from that distance for the season and 36.4% in his last 13 games. Opposing teams will almost certainly keep leaving him open in the corners, but he’s starting to show that he can make defenses pay for doing so — at least enough of the time.

Jaxson Hayes: C-plus

Hayes made three of his six shot attempts to score six points in 24 minutes, but he only had two rebounds, didn’t block a single shot and spent time in foul trouble, as he was called for five personals.

Gabe Vincent: B-minus

In his second game back from a back ailment, Vincent made two of his five shot attempts, with all five attempts coming from beyond the arc, and he finished with six points, two rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes.

Dalton Knecht: B-minus

In 13 minutes, Knecht made two of four shots (but missed both of his 3-point attempts) and ended up with four points and one rebound.

Maxi Kleber: Incomplete

Kleber got three minutes of playing time and went scoreless, but he chipped in two rebounds and one assist.