The Atlanta Hawks continued their losing-skid following Friday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at home. LeBron James and company were 1-5 in their last six games and looked to change their fortunes on the night of James’s birthday. It was a vintage-LeBron performance who finished with 47 points, 9 assists, and 10 rebounds in 40 minutes of action.
The Hawks led by as many as 15 points, only to flop again, in the fourth quarter. This was the third straight game in which Atlanta had led by 10 or more points and still lost.
Atlanta led by 10 at the end of the first quarter, with Trae Young coming out hot with 13 points. A.J. Griffin also chipped in an 8-point quarter on a hyper-efficient 2-2 from three. Much like it has gone all year, Los Angeles was playing sloppy basketball, giving the Hawks more than ample opportunities to close this out in the first-half, but despite this, the Hawks were unable to produce efficient offense and put this game out of reach early. On primarily open shots, the Hawks went just 4-10 from three in the first frame.
The second quarter showed just how porous the Hawks can be on defense. Atlanta allowed a bottom-25 offense to hang 39 points on them, with James scoring 16 by himself. Despite not being able to get a stop, the Hawks were able to stay in the game with their own offense, even though they shot a mere 2-10 from three in the second period. Atlanta’s lack of offensive sets were apparent, when Atlanta got into the half-court their offense simply disintegrated. If it were not for the poor shooting and passing of Russell Westbrook, the Hawks would have been hard-pressed to find any offensive rhythm whatsoever.
The third quarter proved to be disastrous for Atlanta, as they saw their lead flip behind yet another terrible defensive quarter and a complete lack of semblance of offense. They allowed the Lakers to have another 30-point quarter at 36 points, with James adding another double-digit scoring quarter to his night. Westbrook bailed out the Hawks offense, with another 4 turnovers in the third period alone, allowing Atlanta to get easy buckets on the break. Atlanta was not completely out of the game, as the Lakers hung onto a 3-point lead at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was back-and-forth for the most part, until about the last minute and a half, when the Lakers went on an 8-2 run to close the game. This was sparked by a turnover by Dejounte Murray, which led to a lay-up by Lakers center, Thomas Bryant. After former Hawks Dennis Schroder hit a mid-range jump shot to push the lead to 7 following another turnover to put this game out of reach for good.
Atlanta will try to regroup as they begin a four-game trip out on the West Coast. They begin this road-stand with a trip to San Francisco to take on the Golden State Warriors, who are winners of their last four. Tip-off for this one is at 10:00 p.m. eastern from the Chase Center.
