RECAP: Free Throws and Frustrating Defense Doom Atlanta Hawks In Double-Digit Loss to Los Angeles Lakers, 119-102

Atlanta played a poor game on both ends of the court and paid dearly for it by losing to the Lakers despite getting multiple key pieces back.

Rohan Raman | Jan 4, 2025

Jan 3, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) moves the ball against Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes (11) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

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Atlanta Hawks

After losing to the Denver Nuggets without Bogdan Bogdanovic and Jalen Johnson, the Hawks got both back against the Lakers as they continued their West Coast trip. Therefore, they were able to run their usual starting lineup of Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson and Clint Capela. Young had 33 points and nine assists, but the rest of Atlanta's offense fell flat. Johnson scored 19 ponts on 8-13 shooting and Onyeka Okongwu had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. However, the Hawks weren't able to flip the script from Denver and lost again by double-digit points in a 119-102 loss to LA.

On the Lakers' side, they started Austin Reaves, Max Christie, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Anthony Davis. Davis made his return to the lineup after not playing against Portland the previous night. He looked very comfortable against the Hawks, collecting an 18 point and 18 rebound double-double. Austin Reaves had 20 points and seven assists, but as always, James was the headliner and put the game away with 30 points and eight assists.

Having a much healthier team than they did against Denver made a difference tonight for most of the game. The Hawks played three quarters of reasonably solid basketball and outplayed the Lakers in the turnover battle. However, the Lakers took command of the game early. They made it a 22-15 game with 3 minutes left in the first quarter before Bogdanovic hit a massive three to make it a 22-18 game. That sparked a Hawks run that saw great finishes from Onyeka Okongwu and Jalen Johnson as well as a deep three from Young. The Hawks ended the first frame down 28-31, but their momentum towards the end of the quarter suggested they could close the gap in the 2nd quarter.

That did not happen. The Hawks' defense was especially poor in the 2nd quarter as they allowed the Lakers to rack up fouls and keep Atlanta at arm's length. Atlanta cut the deficit to 34-32 on a Young floater, but then allowed Dalton Knecht to hit a deep three-pointer on the feed from Austin Reaves. Young and Jaxson Hayes also got called for a double technical after a brief exchange of words. Atlanta cut the deficit to 3 points, but then Knecht hit his second three of the night to make it a 42-48 game with 6:27 left. From there, Atlanta started to find some success at the rim. Bogdanovic, Capela and Johnson all converted their looks. However, Knecht drained his third three of the night to give LA some breathing room. Johnson answered back with a three-pointer of his own, but LeBron came through down the stretch with five points to keep the Hawks at bay.

At halftime, the Hawks were down 65-57. In the first half, they shot 46% from the field and 27% from three. Conversely, the Lakers shot 51% from the field and 38% from three. Jalen Johnson led the Hawks with 14 points while Young had 12 points and four assists. Anthony Davis posted a double-double in the first half by dropping 17 points and 11 rebounds while LeBron James racked up five assists to go with 14 points of his own. However, the real story of Atlanta's deficit was from their three-point shooting and losing the FT battle. The Hawks went 4-15 from three in the half and shot 4 free throws to LA's 16.

In the third quarter, Reaves opened up the second half by hitting a deep three to make the deficit 11. However, the Hawks showed some signs of surging on both ends of the floor. Dyson Daniels racked up three turnovers by forcing two steals and foul on LeBron. Unfortunately, James hit a deep three to restore the Lakers lead to 11. While LA could have easily ran the Hawks off the court early in the quarter, but Young did not let that happen. He starred as a finisher while also hitting a deep step-back three to give the Hawks new life. Jalen Johnson hit a layup with 7:45 left in the quarter to make it an eight-point game at 72-80 and got fouled, turning it into a 73-80 game. However, a poor offensive possession from Atlanta that saw Young and Risacher both miss their attempts turned into LeBron getting the rebound and Max Christie throwing down a dunk. Reaves hit another three-pointer to give LA another 11-point lead, but Atlanta's defense started to turn some Lakers possesions into fruitless efforts. This was largely due to a fantastic effort from Dyson Daniels, who upped his steal count to four after hounding Reaves on the perimeter. Daniels and Okongwu both hit shots inside to make it an 80-85 game. Once again, LA got the momentum three to fall by way of two Dorian Finney-Smith shots when they needed it most. It allowed the Lakers to take a 96-86 lead into the fourth quarter.

As he's done many times in his career, LeBron put on a superstar effort in the fourth quarter and the Hawks had no answer for it. Atlanta was down 10 at the start of the quarter and James found Reaves for an easy bucket to make it a 12-point game. James himself scored 10 points in six minutes by repeatedly cooking the Hawks defense. Reaves and Rui Hachimura hit threes of their own to eventually salt the game away. After those shots, it was essentially a ball game as the Hawks had no realistic chance of mounting a 15 point comeback with 3:30 left based on their offensive performance.

This was a very poor game for both the Hawks' defense and DeAndre Hunter. Hunter scored 3 points on 1-12 shooting from the field and 0-6 shooting from deep. However, he's been Atlanta's most consistent bench option this year, so it's hard to project that as a problem going forward. The Hawks' defensive struggles is the bigger issue. They looked disorganized in help defense and on the perimeter, frequently giving up cutters to the rim and not being able to close out on shooters. This trend needs to stop if the Hawks are going to mount a serious run into the Eastern Conference playoffs. It also doesn't help when they shoot 17.6% from deep and only hit six threes all night while LA hits 43.3 of its 30 attempts from the arc.

They'll have a chance to get back on track against the Clippers tomorrow night at 10:30 pm EST.

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