The Los Angeles Lakers put together a valiant comeback effort Friday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, but it wasn't enough in the end as they fell in a 105-101 loss at home. 

Itv was an even battle between the two teams throughout the game, save for one glaring quarter that saw the Bucks shoot ahead and achieve just enough of a lead to withstand a late-game surge for Los Angeles. The Bucks outscored the Lakers by 10 in the second quarter, which stands out as a major outlier considering the Lakers outscored the Bucks by five across the other three quarters. 

"It was the same thing, the physicality. Early on in first half, they weren't scoring a lot... but in the second quarter they scored 37. Which is just obviously not winning basketball," Jake LaRavia said (via Eric Lamkins II). "Then [we] held them to 25 and 19 so that second quarter kind of stands out. We just weren't physical enough with their players... We've got to be better."

The Lakers defense has been criticized throughout the year and a lack of effort and physicality have been the specific issues identified within their defensive play. That was once again the issue on Friday during the second quarter against a Bucks team that defines itself by physicality, especially with Giannis Antetokounmpo back on the court.

However, that same Lakers defense has marginally approved and gotten more physical in recent weeks, which makes such an obvious runaway quarter that decided the game even more painful. 

What makes the loss sting even more is the fact that victory was still within reach for the Lakers having lost by just five points, Luka Dončić fouled out in the final seconds of the game to take away the league's leading scorer during crunch time and while LeBron James drove down the court with a chance to twice as the game wound down, each time he was stopped by Antetokounmpo. 

"I think it's more so just because we fought back down the stretch. It was a very winnable game. We had chances," Jake LaRavia said (via Eric Lambkins II). Losing hurts in general to be honest, especially for me. It was a tough one."

James led the Lakers in points with 26 and was one rebound shy of a triple-double. It was arguably his best performance of the season so far and even though it didn't end in a win, the way that James has continued to compete in the league more than two decades since joining it has remained impressive to both fans and his teammates. 

"LeBron's LeBron... Still playing at an elite level at 41. Was huge for us down the stretch tonight and has been honestly this entire year.," LaRavia said. "So, to continue to see him do that and still make effort plays for us, it's very cool to see."