For the second night in a row, the Lakers picked up a tough road win while shorthanded, this time beating the Hawks 124-114 on Monday to extend their winning streak to six games.
Austin Reaves (illness) and Quentin Grimes (right finger sprain) were both out for the game, placing a heavier burden on the Lakers’ role players to step up. The response came in the form of a season-high 49 bench points.
LA scored 29 points off 20 Hawks turnovers and, again, won the points in the paint battle, 52-42.
The Hawks
grabbed the lead and momentum early in the first period. Onyeka Okongwu led them with seven points. LA was 3-7 from the field. Ziaire Williams got the Lakers’ first basket in a triple. Luka Dončić made his first shot attempt, but had three of the team’s turnovers.
At the 6:53 mark, the Hawks were up eight.
Luka inched closer to his usual double figures in the first quarter, pushing his total to seven. With Austin Reaves out, Cameron Carr saw minutes in the rotation. He had two rebounds.
The first ended with back-to-back dunks from Carr and Jarred Vanderbilt, both assisted by Luka, and a triple from Sandro Mamukelashvili. LA was up by nine.
Los Angeles was cooking early in the second period with Williams and Mamu both knocking down triples. Collin Sexton also connected with Walker Kessler twice for dunks.
LA was on an extended 28-9 scoring run. Every Laker off the bench, minus Adou Theiro, had scored.
Sexton continued to give the purple and gold a huge boost. He now had nine points with four assists. He and Kessler helped give Los Angeles a 19-point lead with 6:34 left.
CJ McCollum and Nickeil Alexander-Walker brought some life to the Hawks, combining for 12 points to shave points off the lead. After being down by as much as 20, Atlanta crawled back on the shoulders of Jalen Johnson to cut the deficit to 11 at halftime.
Williams began the third period with the first four points. Atlanta, though, still had momentum and were still slowly chipping away at LA’s lead. They got within six, with Dyson Daniels heating up and scoring five points.
Both teams turned on the offensive jets, scoring at a ridiculous high level.
Alexander-Walker got hot for Atlanta, scoring nine points. Luka and Mamu combined for 11 points. Los Angeles was shooting 46% from the field and the Hawks were close behind with 44%
With 3:39 left, the Lakers were up 10.
The Lakers let Atlanta gain steam again as they knocked down three triples. They got to within three, but Luka converted on a midrange jumper, giving LA a five-point lead at the end of the third.
Mamu continued his stellar play by knocking down a 3-pointer to start the final frame. He had an impressive 19 points off the bench. The Hawks cut the deficit all the way down to two thanks to Aaron Wiggins scoring five points.
Los Angeles answered immediately with four straight points to take a six-point lead with 8:22 left.
The three ball was proving to be important for both teams as the Lakers saw Sexton make another, but Aaron Wiggins and McCollum drained two for the Hawks, getting the team to within four with 4:29 left.
Los Angeles erupted for a wonderful 9-2 scoring run on the shoulders of Mamu, Luka, Williams, LaRavia and Matisse Thybulle, putting the finishing touches on a great performance.
Key Player Stats
Luka finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and five steals. Kessler ended with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Sexton had 18 points and six assists off the bench.
Mamu logged 23 points with eight rebounds and three assists. Williams pitched in with 12 points. Thybulle had six points, all of which came at moments the team needed big shots.
Carr ended with two points and three rebounds. Thiero had two rebounds, an assist and a steal.
The Lakers’ next game will be against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday at 4:00 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
