The Atlanta Hawks were in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening to face the Lakers. They were coming into this one on a three-game winning streak after just taking care of business against the Golden State Warriors
on Sunday. As for the Lakers, they were going in the opposite direction, coming in on a three-game losing streak.
The Hawks were without Luke Kennard, Kristaps Porzingis, and Zaccharie Risacher, while LeBron James was active for the Lakers, playing his first back-to-back of the season.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker popped it off the Hawks, getting an and-one opportunity after making the three-pointer.
The Hawks attacked often and early, and Jalen Johnson was one of the players taking advantage in the paint.
The new additions made an impact in the quarter, both showing their strengths on offense and keeping the Hawks afloat.
The Hawks started to slow down offensively with the second unit in the game, and the Lakers started knocking down a string of threes, courtesy of Gabe Vincent. Alexander-Walker answered with a three late in the quarter, and the Hawks trailed the Lakers 37-30 going into the second.
CJ McCollum got the Hawks going to start the second with five quick points, including a deep three-pointer.
Corey Kispert continued to make his impact, doing what he does best, tying the game for the Hawks.
The Hawks went into another slump offensively, and the Lakers capitalized, going on a 17-0 run to give themselves a 19-point lead midway through the second. They tried to work through it, and were able to get some good shots, but the Lakers had already gotten into a groove and weren’t missing many shots.
After having a sled of good defensive games, the Hawks gave up 81 points in the first half, and only had 60.
Things didn’t get better for the Hawks to start the second, as they found themselves down 30 points early. Shots weren’t falling, and the Lakers were getting easy shots on almost every possession. Johnson tried to lighten the blow early for the Hawks.
Late in the quarter, the Hawks started to find a rhythm on offense, and cut their deficit down from 32 points to 18 points. It was McCollum who led the charge in the quarter.
Another big reason for the Hawks run late in the quarter was Mouhamed Gueye’s defense, as he had the challenge of guarding LeBron James. He got a few stops on the Lakers’ star, and fueled their play on the other end.
The Hawks gave themselves some breathing room going into the fourth quarter, trailing 102-86.
That same intensity carried over into the fourth for the Hawks, and Kispert knocked down this three to continue cutting down the Hawks’ deficit.
Onyeka Okongwu threw down this big dunk to get the Hawks within 11.
Up until, the Hawks were doing everything they needed to do to make the game interesting, but the Lakers started to find life once again. Unfortunately, the Hawks fell into some bad habits, and a few mishaps and turnovers saw their deficit go from 11 to 20 points.
There was hope that the Hawks had one more run in them, but to no avail. With around three minutes left, Quin Snyder pulled the plug and played the end-of-bench guys.
Alexander-Walker finished with 26 points, McCollum finished with 25 points, and Kispert finished with 19 points.
The Hawks will be back in action on Thursday against the Portland Trail Blazers.
