LOS ANGELES — The Hawks looked to bounce back from a tough loss in Denver. But the Lakers shot the lights out and made tough baskets to down them 119-102 on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Here are five observations:
1. The Hawks had no answer for LeBron James, who seemed to get whatever shot he wanted, no matter the defender. Despite playing on the second night of back-to-back games, James provided yet another reminder of why he belongs in the upper echelons of NBA legends.
James, who turned 40 on Monday, scored 30 points, after dropping 38 points a night before to pass Michael Jordan for the most 30-plus games in NBA history.
“We had to double him, at certain points and we didn’t want to start the game doubling and then he forced you to do that,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said.
The Lakers forward also had three rebounds and eight assists to help the Lakers split the season with the Hawks after falling to them in overtime last month.
2. When the Hawks faced the Lakers last month, they did not have to contend with Dorian Finney-Smith. Los Angeles acquired Finney-Smith from the Nets earlier this month and he gave the Hawks fits on the defensive end with his ability to take up space.
He also played the Hawks physically on both ends of the floor and didn’t hesitate to attempt improbable shots. With 8:47 to play and the Hawks trying to whittle away at the lead, Finney-Smith drove baseline. Despite the Hawks looking to seal off his lane, he flipped the ball up for a layup that went high into the air before dropping into the basket.
Finney-Smith and the Lakers made tough shots all night as the Hawks tried their best to contain the ball and keep their man in front of them.
3. The Hawks needed some life and guard Trae Young tried to give the Hawks a boost in the third quarter. The guard scored 11 points in three minutes to cut the Hawks’ deficit to single digits after the Lakers built a 13-point lead two minutes into the second half.
Young took a breather and came back into the game, picking up where he left of with a baseline hook shot.
He accounted for nearly 65% of the Hawks’ scoring in the third quarter, putting up 14 points, two assists, with four points created from his assists. Young finished with 33 points and had nine assists.
4. The Hawks bench has provided the team with efficient production this season but it accounted for just 20 points through the first 36 minutes of the game.
De’Andre Hunter, who has put up 16-straight games with 15 or more points, just couldn’t find the bottom of the net. He made just one field goal after drawing the assignment of guarding James for much of the night.
Hawks wing Bogdan Bogdanovic returned to the rotation for the first time since Dec. 21 after dealing with a left lower leg contusion.
Hunter, Bogdanovic, and Garrison Mathews combined for 3-of-22 shooting from the floor and 1-of-14 from 3.
“If you think back on it, Garrison had a lot of walkup 3s that were open,” Young said. “Bogi had some 3s that he just missed that were open. Even though I made three, and there’s a couple that I felt like should have went in and (they) went in and out. And even Dre. I mean, Dre has been playing crazy good for us recently and he didn’t make a three tonight.
“You hate to, you hate to say it’s one of those games, but it’s, I mean, it’s one of those games guys, we just didn’t make shots enough, and you got to give credit to (the Lakers).”
5. The Hawks just did not take advantage of rotations and could not get into the right spots. The ball stuck to one side of the court for much of the first half and they allowed the Lakers to keep them to the right wing.
It also hasn’t helped that the Hawks have missed the presence of one of their top shooters from the corner in Larry Nance Jr., who is out with an injury.
Stat to know
2021 — The Hawks have not beaten the Lakers in Los Angeles since March 20, 2021.
Quotable
“Honestly, just it just happens. Sometimes coach said in locker room, sometimes we have slippage. But, you know, we all understand that we need to get back on track. So it’s a good thing that we play tomorrow and we got an opportunity to, you know, do what we do tomorrow.” -- Jalen Johnson on bouncing back from Friday.
Up next
The Hawks head across town to face the Clippers Saturday in their new arena, the Intuit Dome.
