Lakers survive a tough test on the road

Reporting from Milwaukee — 

On paper, it had the appearance of an easy win for the Lakers.

The Milwaukee Bucks were just 11-11 on the season.

They were starting players such as rookie guard Brandon Jennings and unknown and unproven players such as Luc Mbah a Moute, Ersan IIyasova and Carlos Delfino.

Michael Redd, Milwaukee’s former All-Star, was playing in only his seventh game this season after being out because of a strained left patella tendon, and he was coming off the bench against the Lakers.

But the Lakers are finding that there is no such thing on the road as an easy victory, their 107-106 overtime win over the Bucks on Wednesday night at the Bradley Center another indication of the difficulties they face.

It took a last-second shot by Kobe Bryant (39 points) in overtime for the Lakers to improve to 20-4.

It took a strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter and solid performances by the reserves for the Lakers to defeat the Chicago Bulls, 96-87, Tuesday night at the United Center.

The Lakers are 5-2 on the road and they have two games left on this trip, at New Jersey on Saturday and at Detroit on Sunday.

“We’re on the road. We’re not going to blow everybody out,” said Lamar Odom, who had eight points and seven rebounds against the Bucks. “We’re not going to win every game by 10 points. We were close enough to win it.”

They got close enough because Derek Fisher made another big jumper, dropping in a 17-foot jumper with 31.5 seconds left in the fourth to give the Lakers a 95-93 lead.

They got close enough because the Lakers didn’t become rattled when they trailed by six points in overtime with 1:25 left.

“As a team, we don’t like to be in those situations, because we feel like for the most part we haven’t played the type of game that we can play,” said Fisher, who had nine points. “But, any time you can get a win in this league, you have to take it. We’re not going to not celebrate.”

For most of the game, the Bucks played harder than the Lakers.

For the most part, the Bucks played with more energy than the Lakers.

For the most part, the Bucks executed better than the Lakers.

But that really shouldn’t come as a surprise, because the Bucks have played well all season at home.

They were 9-3 at home entering Wednesday night’s game.

They gave the Lakers all they could handle.

“It should not be a surprise that the game turned out this way,” Jordan Farmar said. “In looking at the game, you can see how it happened. But we shouldn’t play like that. We should play just as hard.

“But what we do is, a lot of our stuff is isolation. We make some cuts to a post-up to an isolation. So it makes the other guys feel like they’re not really part of the game sometimes.”

The Bucks had 16 second-chance points, the Lakers only six.

That’s just effort and hustle.

“They play hard,” Odom said. “They took a couple of good teams down to the wire.”

The Lakers’ pick-and-roll defense was picked apart again, allowing the Bucks to get inside for good looks.

The Bucks pushed the Lakers to the brink and had numerous opportunities to win.

But the Lakers held strong, pulling out a game they easily could have lost.

“The next thing you know, you’re in a fight,” Odom said. “What happens when you’re in a fight? You fight back.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

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