Giannis seals Bucks' win over Lakers with block, steal vs. LeBron - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo helped seal Milwaukee's 105-101 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night with a pair of clutch defensive plays down the stretch against LeBron James.

With 39.2 seconds remaining and the score tied at 101, Antetokounmpo blocked James from behind as the Lakers' star attempted the go-ahead layup, paving the way for the Bucks to take the lead after Kevin Porter Jr. got fouled on the opposite end.

Then, as James drove to the basket with the Lakers trailing by two, Antetokounmpo created another turnover, knocking the ball loose for a steal with 1.5 seconds remaining to protect the lead en route to securing a win.

«Down the stretch, I just wanted to take the challenge,» Antetokounmpo said. «I wanted to stay in front of him as best I could. Because you knew that he's going to make a play. He's not going to pass it. And it worked out in my favor.»

The Bucks have won five of their past seven games since Antetokounmpo returned from injury Dec. 27 and six of their past nine games overall. Antetokounmpo had a modest scoring night by his superstar standards, logging 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting, but he said he was just trying to impact the game any way he could.

«We're playing well, right? So, we cannot be comfortable,» Antetokounmpo said. «We can't be complacent right now. We got to keep on pushing, pushing our envelope, put our foot in the pedal and keep on moving forward.»

It was the Lakers' first clutch loss this season; they entered Friday an NBA-best 13-0 in such games, defined as a five-point game in the final five minutes.

It was also the first time Antetokounmpo and James played in a regular-season game against each other since 2022.

In his locker after the game,