Los Angeles Lakers Big Three Leads the Way in Blowout Win Over the Atlanta Hawks 136-105
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Last night, the Hawks pulled a big upset in Los Angeles vs the Clippers when most expected them to get a beatdown. Atlanta played great defense and shot the ball well from three on their way to a blowout win over what is supposed to be one of the NBA's best teams.
The exact opposite happened tonight.
The Hawks got blown off the floor by the Lakers tonight and the game was largely uncompetitive in the second half. LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and D'Angelo Russell all had huge nights and the Hawks defense could do nothing against the Lakers offensive attack. While it was the second night of a back-to-back, it was disappointing to see the Hawks play this poorly.
Let's recap tonight's game in Los Angeles.
The Hawks started Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Vit Krejci, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela.
The Lakers starting five were D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, and Anthony Davis. James and Davis were questionable coming into this game, but they both ended up playing.
This game started out with two big runs, one by each team.
Atlanta raced to an 11-2 start and the Hawks looked like they were still playing the Clippers all over again. The three-point shooting was hot and the Lakers were missing shots. The run at the start of the game for the Hawks was highlighted by Johnson posterizing Reaves.
From that point forward though, the Lakers would take over the rest of the first quarter, and their superstars were the reason why.
Over the rest of the quarter, Los Angeles would outscore the Hawks 36-17 and James and Davis combined for 23 points. The Lakers would outscore the Hawks 24-12 in the paint and shoot 65% in the first quarter and led 38-28. The Lakers are not known as one of the league's top offensive teams, but they were shooting lights out and that would be the theme of the first half.
With this being the first game back for Okongwu, it was going to be interesting to see how head coach Quin Snyder would divide up the playing time at center. Okongwu got the first minutes off the bench, along with De'Andre Hunter, Garrison Matthews, and Trent Forrest.
Murray led the Hawks with nine points after the first quarter and Johnson had seven.
In the opening minutes of the second quarter, Atlanta trimmed the Lakers lead down to four and trailed 45-41 with 8:36 left in the first half, but the Lakers quickly responded with a 9-2 run to go up 54-43 and regain control of the game. While the first quarter was dominated by James, Russell stepped up and had a big second quarter for the Lakers, scoring 11 points and dishing out four assists. Russell is a polarizing player, but he has been the third-best player on Los Angeles this year.
The lead would get to be as much as 18, but the Hawks would trim it down to 14 at halftime, trialing 73-59. The big reason why is the Hawks's poor defense. They let the Lakers shoot 59% from the field and 44% from three in the first half and Los Angeles scored 1.3 points per possession.
James had 19 in the first half, leading all scorers, while Davis and Russell had 13 each.
Atlanta shot 47% from the field and 28% from three in the first half. After a stellar two-game shooting from beyond the arc, the Hawks had cooled off significantly against Los Angeles. Johnson had 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists in the first half while Bogdanovic had 15. The Hawks were going to have to figure out a way to limit the Lakers offense or it would be another loss.
The second half started with the Hawks getting the lead trimmed down to 12, but it was not long before the Lakers extended it back.
Davis, Reaves, and Hachimura continued the Laker's dominance on offense, and for most of the quarter, they were doing it without getting much from three. Then, the Lakers hit their last four threes of the quarter.
The Hawks's struggles from three continued in the third. Atlanta was just 2-10 from three in the quarter.
Los Angeles controlled the third quarter all the way through, but D'Angelo Russell hit a three at the buzzer was the cherry on top of what was a frustrating night for the Hawks.
An 11-2 run by the Lakers to start the fourth quarter was the unofficial ending to the game. Atlanta did not have enough on the second night of a back-to-back and was blown out by the Lakers in Los Angeles.
A scary moment came for the Hawks halfway through the fourth quarter with the Hawks down 30 points. Jalen Johnson came down on his right ankle which had kept him out for a few games and was on the ground in pain. He was able to walk to the bench on his own and sat there and did not go to the locker room.
It is not hard to see why the Hawks lost this game. The defense was atrocious and the three-point shooting cooled off in a big way. It was the complete opposite of the big win vs the Clippers last night.
Johnson finished the game with 25 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Atlanta shot 43% from the field and 22% from three.
The Lakers finished the game shooting 58% from the field and 42% from three. James finished with 25 points, seven rebounds, and 10 assists, and Davis had 22 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists, and Russell led all scorers with 27 points and 10 assists.
The five-game road trip is going to wrap up on Thursday vs Phoenix. The game is going to be another late one and is slated to start at 10:30 p.m.
