Hawks fall to Los Angeles Lakers 119-102 on poor shooting night

The Hawks faced the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night during their trip to the West Coast. This would be the first time they played since the subtraction of D’Angelo Russell and the addition of Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton.

The Lakers scored the first four points, taking advantage of mismatches. Dyson Daniels secured a steal and score early, then cashed in a three after a beautiful pass from Trae Young.

The score was 16-13 in the Lakers’ favor halfway through the quarter. The Hawks were giving up easy scores in the restricted area. The first quarter ended with the Lakers leading 31-28. Young already logged five assists to go with five points.

Jalen Johnson continued to be a monster in transition, and he was the first Hawk to enter double figure scoring. De’Andre Hunter couldn’t get anything going in the first half, missing seven of his first eight attempts. The Hawks trailed 65-57 at half, with Johnson’s 14 points leading the team. For the Lakers, LeBron and Anthony Davis were dominant per usual, combining for 31 points.

Trae Young scored 11 points in the first few minutes of the third, giving the Hawks the boost they needed to keep the game within single digits. Daniels logged three steals in the third quarter alone, helping the Hawks win the turnover battle by a large margin. The Lakers outscored the Hawks 31-29 in the quarter, taking a 96-86 lead entering the fourth. At this point, the Hawks had only made five of their 25 three-point attempts.

WIth 7:45 remaining in the game, LeBron James made a reverse layup to make the score 102-91 in favor of the Lakers. LeBron James began to take over in the fourth quarter, hitting threes and fadeaway jump shots. The Lakers then extended their lead up to 17 before Young went to the free throw line. The Hawks did not shoot well enough to stay in the game, highlighted by De’Andre Hunter’s one field goal outing.

The Lakers maintained full control, defeating the Hawks 119-102.