Lakers at Hawks
Kobe Bryant is putting up scoring numbers at a pace that matches up with the best years of his career, but his team is on pace for the worst campaign of his tenure. Bryant will try to drag the Los Angeles Lakers to a second victory when they visit the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. The Hawks had a four-game winning streak come to an end in a bad loss at Cleveland on Saturday but have yet to fall at home.
Bryant put up a season-high 44 points on Sunday but Los Angeles dropped a 136-115 decision at home to the Golden State Warriors, who shot 53.5 percent in the drubbing and dropped 14 3-pointers. The Lakers are the worst defensive team in the league, surrendering an average of 112.1 points, and are going up against a Hawks squad that put up 114 in its last home game against Miami on Friday. Atlanta came out flat on the second night of the back-to-back on Saturday and some holes in the defense were exposed in a 127-94 setback.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles), SportSouth (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (1-9): Los Angeles is off to the worst 10-game start in franchise history and is heading out on a three-game trip through Atlanta, Houston and Dallas. The Lakers have surrendered at least 108 points seven times already and Bryant has yet to hit 50 percent of his shots in a game this season after going 15-of-34 in just 31 minutes on Sunday. First-year coach Byron Scott led team in New Orleans and Cleveland that failed to reach 20 wins and told reporters after the game that “patience is running thin.”
ABOUT THE HAWKS (5-4): While the Lakers can be exposed beyond the arc on defense so can Atlanta, which allowed Cleveland to go 19-of-31 from beyond the arc on Saturday. "We've got to just throw this one away,” point guard Jeff Teague told reporters. “When they started making shots, I thought we put our heads down." The Hawks have not been the type of team that puts its head down at home, where they have gone for 100 or more points in each of the four victories.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hawks F Paul Millsap is averaging 21.7 points on 52.9 percent shooting in the last three games.
2. Los Angeles F Ryan Kelly (right hamstring) left Sunday’s game and is day-to-day.
3. Atlanta F Kyle Korver was held scoreless on Saturday and did not make a 3-pointer for the first time this season.