The Lakers put together one of their best all around efforts of the season against Sacramento last night. I thought they'd follow it up with a consistent performance against the lowly Hawks, but I was quite wrong. Still, a Tyson Chandler block on a potential Trae Young game-winner bailed them out at the end to bring their record above .500 for the first time this year. See the game recap below!
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Game Recap
First Quarter
LA was lethargic to start this ballgame, just like last Sunday against the Toronto Raptors. They let the Hawks score nine unanswered points on them to kick things off before Kuzma got them on the board. But then LeBron drew a flagrant-1 foul(which didn't look flagrant at all - rule changes must be in effect) in addition to draining a three which brought them neck-and-neck with the Hawks, 8-9. Lonzo Ball was driving and dishing with four early assists. The assertiveness was on point for the young PG.
The Lakers went on a 14-2 run while the Hawks struggled to find their shot. Miles Plumlee broke Atlanta's silence with a hard and-1 drive to the hoop, which was followed up by a three-ball + breakaway steal in response by the Lakers. Atlanta needed a timeout to strategize, 19-14 with under four minutes to play. The second unit came in for the waning minutes of the first and surrendered the lead to the Hawks off of poor rebounding, bad defense, and offensive fouls. But then KCP and Josh Hart stepped up on D which led to offense (two three-pointers) to recapture the lead for LA. They carried that momentum into the remainder of the quarter en route to gaining a six point advantage. 28-22 after one quarter of play.
Second Quarter
That six point Laker lead quickly evaporated and flipped into a one-point game in favor of the Hawks. Atlanta was just getting out and running while the Lakers were a step behind in transition. LA already had ten turnovers and we were barely into the second quarter. Things just got too sloppy on the Lakers end so Luke brought the first unit back in.
Meanwhile, Atlanta was on a 14-4 run with 7:30 to go in the half. Turnovers and poor shooting proved to be the Lakers downfall, but the Hawks weren't shooting well which ended up keeping this game close. The Hawks were up 47-45 with 3:33 to go in the half. Kent Bazemore was playing great for the visitors on both ends of the floor. LA tightened up at the end to tie things up, but they surrendered a three that allowed Atlanta to walk into the halftime locker room with the upper hand, 53-52. LA had a pathetic FIFTEEN turnovers which the Hawks converted into 19 points in the first two quarters of play. Their lack of focus was probably from the mental and physical fatigue of playing a game last night. They were lucky the Hawks weren't shooting with any consistency, because they should've been down by a lot more.
Third Quarter
The Lakers roared out into the third quarter with a pair of three's and a midrange jumper to hop out to a 60-55 lead, but the Hawks responded in kind to make it 61-60. LeBron James started making himself a factor when the Hawks got too confident which led to a ten-point LA lead 72-62. The Hawks went ice cold from the field as LA pushed the deficit to 14 off a 17-5 run with 3:29 left in the third. The Lakeshow was doing a great job at drawing fouls from hard drives at the rim. It was a somewhat boring third quarter, but the Lakers managed to head into the fourth with a nine point lead 84-75.
Fourth Quarter
Trae Young was cooking to start the fourth, getting to the line and draining treys. A Taurean Prince triple cut the lead down to three 84-87. Mental mistakes (like stepping out of bounds for a corner three) prevented the Lakers from gaining back that momentum. Even though the second unit was getting absolutely nothing done, Luke insisted on keeping them out on the floor. Trae Young hit a three to make it a two-point game 93-91 with eight minutes to play. That finally convinced Luke that it was time for the starters to come back in.
Alex Len slammed it home hard to recapture the Hawks lead 99-98. LeBron looked like he was out here not giving a fuck once again. A deep Trae Young three pushed it to 102-98 Hawks. Then, LeBron decided to spite me and came back with a tough drive to the hoop to narrow it down to one, but a Vince Carter jumper pushed it back to three. LA was just ice cold from the field. It felt like Atlanta was about to take over. The Hawks proceeded to throw up a couple bad shots to give the Lakers some life which spurred a Hart to Kuzma transition basket good enough to tie it up 104-all with 1:34 to play.
On the very next Hawks possession, Vince Carter found an open floor and threw it down for the big slam to put the Hawks up one 105-104. It was looking like another classic Laker unraveling down the stretch. LeBron drove hard down the middle for an attempt at drawing a foul - which it did. He went to the line down one with a chance to go ahead. He bricked the first one HARD...and missed the second one too! But Kyle Kuzma nabbed the enormous offensive rebound and threw up a shot that missed - but then LeBron cleaned it up with the dunk! Lakers were up one with 15.3 left in the ballgame. Hawks had the ball and it was do-or-die.
With fifteen seconds to play...Trae Young took the ball. Brandon Ingram was guarding him with the game on the line. Trae Young feinted acting like he was going to shoot the three. He drove right and threw up a floater with a chance to win - but Tyson Chandler blocked it! Lakers win 107-106.
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Takeaways
My first takeaway is that the Lakers are HOOOOORRIBLE on back-to-back sets. First they get embarrassed by Toronto now they almost blow one to the Hawks! LeBron was particularly lethargic tonight. He looked like he was playing at about 50-60% speed save for a couple possessions. He missed two do-or-die free throws but made the huge second-chance dunk to take the lead and make up for it. After this game I think it's absolutely certain that you can count on LeBron playing like dog dookie on back-to-back games this year. Sixteen years in the NBA and eight straight NBA Finals will do that to you. A word to the wise: don't take LeBron in daily fantasy on the second night of a back-to-back.
But this was a much needed win tonight. This victory put the Lakers up one game above .500 for the first time this early season. Atlanta has got to be heartbroken right now. They had a chance to beat the Lakers at home and it slipped away! They're probably viciously calling for a replay of that Chandler block to see if it was goaltending. It was an unbelievably close call. Maybe the ref didn't want to decide this game on a goaltend (even if it might've been the right call). They swallow their whistle on fouls beyond the arc in the last few seconds, so maybe this same logic applies.
What a big play for Tyson Chandler though. They're undefeated since he joined the team, and he's been an integral player in the middle and down the stretch of these games. He's bringing the Lakers a defensive consistency that they've never known this young year. Now let's see if he can be a big factor in games against the NBA's upper echelon.
Free throw shooting was once again despicable. LeBron continues to brick crucial free throws down the stretch and the rest of the guys didn't do well either. LA was 15/24 from the stripe tonight. Turnovers was the other big mark of shame. Fifteen giveaways in the first half, and eight in the second. I hope the guys seriously take a look at their free throw shooting and put up a thousand shots in practice every day before they leave. If they make their free throws in the first three quarters, they'll separate themselves from these shitty teams who always come back on them down the stretch.
Thanks for reading and check out the game highlights below!
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