After getting blown out by the Houston Rockets, the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night in the second game of a back-to-back.
There were plenty of storylines in this one, namely the D’Angelo Russell and Dejounte Murray matchup given all the recent trade rumors. The Lakers were also without star big man Anthony Davis due to a groin injury, and the result was another loss as the Hawks won comfortably, 138-122.
Even without Davis, the Lakers got off to a solid start as LeBron James and Austin Reaves were attacking the basket to give their team an early 12-6 lead. Murray got going from there though, giving his team a 20-18 lead and forcing a Lakers timeout.
The Hawks’ run continued from there as the Lakers struggled to take care of the ball, allowing Atlanta to get out in transition. With Reaves being the only Lakers player to get going offensively, the Hawks led 36-29 at the end of the first.
James helped get the Lakers back on track offensively at the beginning of the second with his passing, finding guys like Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt for easy dunks. The Lakers really struggled with their outside shots though, which allowed the Hawks to steadily build their lead.
While Reaves and James tried to get their team going with a big alley-oop, the Lakers still struggled to get stops and shoot from outside so they went into the halftime locker room trailing 67-56.
The Hawks began the third quarter on a 6-0 run to extend their lead, forcing a quick Lakers timeout.
With the Lakers’ deficit ballooning to 20, something needed to change and fast. So naturally, James went into attack mode to try to get his team back in it. Russell also finally got going with a triple, the problem was that the Lakers were playing no defense and the Hawks were making them pay.
The Lakers finally started to make a run late in the third though with Rui Hachimura and Reaves connecting from deep. It was all for naught though as the Hawks immediately answered and still led comfortably 103-88 at the end of the third.
L.A. began the quarter with five straight points to quickly get the deficit back to 10. Hachimura was definitely doing his part, scoring from all three levels for his team.
As was the case all night though, the Lakers could never get over the hump as the Hawks had an answer for every run. Trae Young and Murray led the way in the backcourt, and they were ultimately able to cruise to victory.
Up next for the Lakers…
The Lakers continue their road trip with two tough matchups, first against the Boston Celtics on Thursday and then the New York Knicks on Saturday.
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