"We ain't on their level" - LeBron James refuses to put LA Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks on same pedestal after blowout loss

LeBron James and the LA Lakers have lost round two of their contest against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.

After losing to the Bucks in Milwaukee in November last year, the Lakers lost their second regular-season encounter to the defending champions (116-131) on Tuesday.

While the margin of victory for the Milwaukee Bucks was ultimately 15 points, they led by as many as 30 points (96-66) midway through the third quarter.

Antetokounmpo recorded 44 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists in a contest where the Lakers gave up as many as 78 first-half points.

Overall, Milwaukee shot 54.2% from the field, even as Antetokounmpo put up a super-efficient 17-of-20 (85.0%) shooting game. The Bucks dominated the Lakers across multiple stats categories, including the battle of the boards (56-49), fastbreak points (15-9), turnovers (11-16) and points off turnovers (25-11).

LeBron James was consequently pretty direct when asked how the LA Lakers compared to the Milwaukee Bucks at this stage of the season. He replied:

"Do I think we can reach the level Milwaukee is at right now? No... They're the defending champions for a reason."

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LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid become first three players in a single NBA season to have each scored 25+ points in 20 straight games

The Milwaukee Bucks-LA Lakers contest also saw LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo join Joel Embiid as players who have put up 25-plus points in 20 straight games. This is the first season in NBA history in which three players have each scored 25-plus points in 20 straight games.

Of the three players, Embiid's streak is at 21. James and Antetokounmpo, however, touched the 25-plus points mark in 20 consecutive games in Tuesday's contest at Crypto.com Arena.

While Antetokounmpo's 44 points led all scorers, James put up 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting in the game. The 37-year-old superstar also had eight assists and five rebounds in the game.

Embiid, Antetokounmpo and James are also locked in a fantastic battle for the scoring title along with Kevin Durant. While Durant hasn't played for the Brooklyn Nets in more than three weeks now, the other three superstars are making this a three-way race.

Embiid leads the pack with 29.4 ppg, while Antetokounmpo (29.2 ppg) has leapfrogged James (29.0) after their latest matchup. Durant, who has played the least number of games between the four players, is averaging 29.3 ppg.