By Jesus Coronel

The Los Angeles Clippers fell in the final seconds to another MVP-worthy performance by Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. 

The game was close until its final minutes. With 4:01 left to go, Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard nailed a shot that propelled Los Angeles to a 100-96 lead.

The Bucks then rallied with a 9-0 run led by Antetokounmpo. He scored the final points in that run, capped off with a monstrous slam dunk, leaving the Clippers trailing 103-100 with just 10 seconds left in the game.

Milwaukee led the Clippers for most of the game, until Los Angeles rallied at the end of the third quarter with an 11-0 run that resulted in an 81-77 Clippers lead going into the fourth quarter.

But the Clippers failed to score a single point during the Bucks’ 9-0 run. Leonard and guard Paul George didn’t land a shot in the final minutes. The Clippers failed to grab the rebound after their final shot attempt, a deep 3-pointer by Leonard, and lost the game 105-100.

Leonard said during the post game press conference that the Clippers were unable to find an effective shot late in the game because the team stagnated and its offense did not move up the court quick enough.

“I thought we came down too slow,” he said. “For us to get better, I feel like we (have to) have a better stride opening the floor up and just getting down and getting into a play”

Antetokounmpo became only the fourth Buck in history to record four straight games with 35 points, joining the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in accomplishing the feat. He said the Bucks have to keep working as the season progresses.

“We have a long way to go,” he said during the post game press conference. “We (have to) keep playing good basketball, keep making the right decisions, creating good habits and we (have to) hope that everything is going to work out in the end.”

The loss brings the Clippers to a 24-12 record. They remain in second place in the Western Conference.