Fourth quarter takes stuffing out of Lakers

MILWAUKEE -- In the spirit of today’s holiday, Milwaukee Bucks employees handed out dozens of frozen turkeys to fans during a third-quarter promotion Wednesday night.

The giving wasn’t done yet.

The Lakers proceeded to hand the Bucks the fourth quarter as a coin flip of a game morphed into a 110-103 Milwaukee victory at the Bradley Center.

The Lakers hurled a series of panicked three-point attempts at the rim and also learned a lesson in temper control when Andrew Bynum was hit with a technical foul . . . after getting the foul call he wanted while attempting a shot.

The Bucks’ obvious response: Hey, thanks.

The Lakers have already shown they can win on the road -- Phoenix, Houston and Tuesday’s fireworks display against Indiana come to mind -- but they also proved they could lose on the road, in a grand thumbs-down way.

They were ahead, 83-82, with eight minutes to play, and then their shots stopped falling, their defense stopped caring and their attempt at momentum for Friday’s game in Boston was sent home for the holiday.

The fourth-quarter stats for the Lakers: six-for-19 shooting (31.6%), one for eight (12.5%) from three-point range, three assists and no smiles in the locker room afterward.

Lamar Odom was in a particularly grumpy mood, taking all the blame after missing eight of 11 shots and scoring eight points in 40 minutes.

“That’s why we lost,” said Odom, who had four assists and four turnovers. “It’s the truth. Write that. I’m going to say it was one of the worst games I’ve played. It’ll be hard to sleep. I played like trash. Anything else?”

Odom then slipped into a camel-hair jacket, pulled a Yankees cap onto his head and walked slowly, and solely, to the team bus, a small bag dangling by his feet, maybe an inch above the ground.

Kobe Bryant wasn’t phenomenal (27 points on seven-for-18 shooting) and Andrew Bynum had the numbers (16 points, 13 rebounds) but also the late-game gaffe.

With the Lakers down, 90-86, Bynum was fouled by Andrew Bogut while shooting from the post and was headed to the line for two free throws with 4:49 to play.

But Bynum yelled in frustration at the referees after the play and was hit with a technical foul. Michael Redd made the free throw for the Bucks at the other end, and Bynum made only one of two, making it a zero-sum play for the Lakers.

Lesson learned?

“I hope so,” Coach Phil Jackson said crisply.

Redd didn’t strike the Lakers for 45 points the way he did in a Bucks’ victory last November at Staples Center, but he dissected them in other ways, finishing with 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

He also drew Bryant away from the rest of the Lakers.

“I think Redd got Kobe a little bit distracted out there,” Jackson said. “He didn’t play as much of a team game as I’d like to have seen him play. But, you know, it was a good head-on-head battle for two players. It came out pretty even.”

The Lakers were tripped up in other areas.

They let an 11-point lead slip away by halftime, and their bench was outscored by the Bucks’ reserves, 39-25.

Still, there was enough of an effort to maintain a slim lead in the fourth quarter, until the Bucks got hot, the Lakers got cold and a 17-7 run gave the Bucks a 99-90 lead with 3:17 to play.

“We had control of the game pretty much throughout,” Bryant said, “except for there in the fourth quarter.”

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com