1st Quarter
The Los Angeles Lakers starting lineup looked a bit different as Ivica Zubac started in place for Timofey Mozgov due to an eye contusion he suffered last night in the loss to the Indiana Pacers. Ivica was joined by D’Angelo Russell, Nick Young, Luol Deng and Julius Randle.
The began the game by trying to take advantage of the matchup between Dwight Howard and Zubac. Howard was able to get things going with a dunk. Zubac was then able to get his first bucket as a Laker on a nice turnaround jump hook against Howard.
The Hawks Tim Hardaway Jr. began his hot first quarter by drilling a three-pointer.
Jordan Clarkson hit Larry Nance Jr. with a nice alley-oop. Mike Muscala hit a corner three to extend the Hawks lead to three. Tim Hardaway with 14 points in the period.
2nd Quarter
The Lakers started the quarter by missing their first four shots before Jordan Clarkson put them on the board with a nice jumper close to the basket. The Hawks meanwhile started the quarter cold, scoring only one point through the first four minutes of action. Paul Millsap finally gave the Hawks their first field goal with a face-up jumper over Zubac.
Clarkson scored the next nine points for the Lakers highlighted by a steal at mid-court that he took in for an easy bucket and followed by hitting a three from the right wing.
The Lakers continued their defensive struggles as the Hawks were able to get easy buckets that force Luke Walton to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Lakers turned the ball over that led to a Kris Humphries dunk on the other end of the floor. At this point, the Hawks led by 11 points.
D’Angelo Russell scored his seventh point on an and-1 that prompted a quick scoring run that cut the Lakers deficit to three points with a little over two minutes to go in the half.
Unfortunately, the Hawks were able to charge back up their lead to nine points before the half was over. The Lakers finished with double-digit turnovers in the first that led them to a 51 to 60 deficit at the half.
3rd Quarter
The quarter began by Russell committing a turnover that led to an easy Kent Bazemore layup at the other end which once again called for a quick Lakers timeout. After a missed free-throw by Randle, he was able to get his own miss and hit Deng for a corner three to cut the lead to six.
The Hawks continued to feed Howard down in the post as he was able to back down Zubac for a bucket that put him up to 25 points.
After a Hawks turnover, Russell was able to find Deng for another three along the left baseline which was followed by another three from Nick Young that brought the Lakers within four points. Howard once again was able to get a couple of easy baskets down low that extended the Hawks lead back up to seven points.
Russell was able to tie the game on a corner three. After Hardaway had made two of three free-throws, the Hawks made two three-pointers by Hardaway and Humphries.
The Lakers were able to score 39 points in the third quarter that saw their halftime deficit cut.
4th Quarter
The Lakers came out scoring 12 quick points on a couple of threes from Brandon Ingram and Lou Williams. Williams then made what he has become one of the best at, an and-one giving the Lakers a four-point lead.
Playing their best stretch of defense of the game, the Lakers were able to make things a bit difficult as Williams was able stole the ball that led a basket by him on the following possession. Dennis Schroeder then returned the favor by grabbing a steal and scoring on a layup.
A Kyle Korver three brought the Hawks within two points. Williams answered back with a floater in the middle of the lane followed by a Randle lay-in. Russell continued his strong performance by hitting a jumper with the shot clock winding down putting the Lakers back up three.
A Williams three and Nance Jr. dunk put the Lakers up six with a little under a minute and a half remaining. Nick Young iced the game on a three-pointer from the corner that was preceded by a great block by Randle on a driving Schroeder.
The Lakers finally were able to get their first win on the last stop of their four-game road win defeating the Atlanta Hawks, 123-116.
