Hawks at Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers host the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday in a matchup of two teams who have been good at times through the season’s first month, but currently are struggling. Both teams lost four of their past five games and the struggles are coming at different ends of the floor with the Hawks sputtering on offense – scoring a season-worst 68 points in Friday’s loss at Utah - while the Lakers gave up 258 points in back-to-back losses to Golden State.
Los Angeles also is dealing with a multitude of injuries, with DeAngelo Russell sidelined for two weeks with a knee injury and Julius Randle (hip) and Nick Young (toe) missing Friday’s 109-85 defeat. “It looked like a Thanksgiving food hangover,” Lakers coach Luke Walton told reporters afterward, pointing out his team’s lack of energy. The Hawks were miserable in Friday’s 95-68 loss to the Jazz as Dwight Howard scored four points and Atlanta totaled 25 points in the second and third quarters combined. “We got beat pretty handily a couple of nights ago,” Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters, referencing a 112-94 loss Tuesday to New Orleans, “so we need to figure out a way to get out of this quickly.”
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Atlanta), Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (10-6): Atlanta shot a season-low 31.3 percent from the field Friday and are averaging 89.5 points in its past five games after scoring 109 points per contest during a six-game winning streak. Howard had a monster game in Wednesday’s victory over Indiana (23 points, 20 rebounds) but hit only 2-of-9 shots Friday, and had plenty of company as Atlanta’s starters combined to shoot 14-of-51 from the field. Paul Millsap is having another strong season, averaging 16.6 points and 7.9 rebounds, while Howard provides 14.1 points and 12.9 rebounds per contest.
ABOUT THE LAKERS (8-9): With 40 percent of the Lakers’ offensive production out of the lineup, guard Jordan Clarkson made the most of his first start Friday by scoring 20 points (shooting 4-of-9 from 3-point range). But Los Angeles’ defensive issues continue as the Lakers allow 111.9 points per game while opponents shoot 48.7 percent from the field with both numbers among the worst in the NBA. Former Hawk Lou Williams leads the Lakers in scoring at 16.4 points per game, and could have help from Randle (who practiced Saturday) and Young (who should play, according to coach Luke Walton).
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Williams scored 16 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as the Lakers rallied by the Hawks 123-116 on Nov. 2 in Atlanta.
2. The Hawks recorded only 11 assists Friday after averaging 24.6 entering the weekend (third in the NBA).
3. Los Angeles G Brandon Ingram shot 3-of-18 from the field in his second NBA start Friday, finishing with eight points.