After getting blown out in back-to-back games, the Los Angeles Lakers looked to right the ship on Friday night when they closed out their road trip against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Hawks came in as one of the hottest teams in the NBA having won five straight, and they found a way to escape with a 134-132 overtime win as the Lakers fumbled away the game late.
LeBron James came into this game questionable with a foot issue but was able to give it a go and made his first triple while also dishing a pair of assists to Rui Hachimura. The Lakers took an early lead after Dalton Knecht connected on a corner 3-pointer.
The Hawks have an impressive rookie of their own though as No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher responded out of a timeout with five quick points. Both defenses were strong early, but Anthony Davis ended the first quarter with a three-point play to give the Lakers a 29-26 lead.
With Davis on the bench, the Lakers struggled offensively to begin the second quarter while Risacher had back-to-back buckets and then Onyeka Okongwu scoring six straight points inside. Known Laker killer Bogdan Bogdanovic then got hot from deep, although James answered with one of his own.
Davis continued dominating inside when he came back in the game and had a really strong close to the half, although Atlanta beat the buzzer to tie it at 64 at the end of the second.
The Lakers’ ball movement was on point to start the third quarter as James led a 13-0 run to take a double digit lead and force a Hawks timeout. Trae Young and De’Andre Hunter responded with back-to-back triples though and all of a sudden it was the Lakers that needed a timeout.
Young and Bogdanovic stayed hot out of the timeout and before they knew it, the Lakers lead had completely evaporated. D’Angelo Russell helped his team regain the lead with two 3s to end the third quarter and L.A. went into the fourth up 97-94.
The Lakers’ defense predictably struggled with Davis on the bench to start the fourth and Bogdanovic gave his team the lead with another 3 before James hit one of his own.
As was the case seemingly all game, the game was close going into the final minutes. With L.A. up four, Dyson Daniels scored five straight points for his team to regain the lead, which was short-lived with Davis finishing an alley-oop from Gabe Vincent.
With the Lakers unable to get a defensive rebound though, Hunter made them pay with a triple although James then tied it at 119 with a layup with 12.9 to play. Young took a deep 3 at the buzzer that was blocked by Max Christie to send the game to overtime.
The Hawks got two easy buckets to begin the extra period, quickly going up by four. Christie then came up with another big play, beating the shot clock buzzer with a 3 before fouling out on the next possession.
With the game tied at 127, Vincent hit a deep triple to put his team back up. Davis then hit a clutch midrange jumper. The Hawks continued to hang around though and had a chance to take a lead after a steal. James had a massive chasedown block, however, saving his team.
Instead of going to the free throw line, Davis got tied up and a jump ball was called, so the Hawks got the ball back down one with 19.6 seconds to play. Young proceeded to drill a triple, and then James missed at the buzzer to lose it.
James and Davis both had monster nights for L.A. in the loss as the former had another triple-double with 39 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, two steals and three blocks. Davis contributed 38 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, one steal and two blocks.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers will now return home and host the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night before getting four days off, which JJ Redick believes will be valuable time on the practice court.
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