The Los Angeles Lakers have enjoyed their recent homestand, collecting wins over the Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers to put themselves in a position to climb up the standings.
The Lakers hosted the Atlanta Hawks before hitting the road again and it presented an opportunity to avenge their loss earlier this season. Previously, Atlanta beat Los Angeles after Trae Young nailed a 3-pointer in overtime so the latter had extra motivation to pull out a win.
The Lakers didn’t mess around as they beat the Hawks handily, winning 119-102 and moving up to fourth place in the Western Conference.
LeBron James has been playing some of his best basketball of the 2024-25 season following his recent break and it’s really shown on the offensive end. James’ jumper has shown real signs of life and he had it going from the perimeter against Atlanta.
James was still destructive whenever he got near the rim, but the jumper falling really put pressure on the Hawks defense. In the fourth quarter, James nailed a tough baseline fallaway jumper that gave him 30 points but more importantly passed Michael Jordan for the most 30-point games in NBA history.
Overall, James finished with 30 points, eight assists and three rebounds in just 30 minutes of action.
Anthony Davis returned to the lineup after missing the previous game against Portland and looked healthy on the floor. Davis’ ankle didn’t seem to bother him too much as he was mobile and active, especially defensively when he came up with highlight-reel blocks.
With James having it going offensively, Davis wasn’t asked to do much though he was still a menace in the paint. Davis recorded another double-double as he had 18 points and a game-high 19 rebounds, including four on the offensive end. He also had four assists, three steals and three blocks.
Dalton Knecht had been struggling with his outside shot for weeks, but finally came alive against the Hawks as he was nearly perfect from distance. Knecht hit three of his four attempts from the 3-point line and led the bench in scoring with 13 points.
Dorian Finney-Smith looked more comfortable in his third game with the Lakers, looking to shoot the basketball more while providing some tough defense. Finney-Smith finished with eight points and five rebounds, though his contributions don’t always show up in the box score.
What’s next for Lakers
The Lakers now head back on the road to take on the Houston Rockets on Sunday followed by the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.
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