ATLANTA — The Los Angeles Lakers opened a five-game road trip Friday night and saw their five-game winning streak snapped, falling 122-102 to the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena.
Playing without LeBron James, Austin Reaves and several other regulars, Los Angeles (7-3) suffered its first defeat away from Crypto.com Arena this season. Atlanta, also missing key contributors while finishing a back-to-back set, improved to 5-5 by out-hustling the visitors on both ends of the floor.
The Hawks raced to a 37-29 advantage after one quarter as the Lakers struggled to protect the ball and Luka Doncic picked up early fouls. Rui Hachimura briefly put Los Angeles in front 7-6 with five straight points, but Atlanta answered with an 8-0 burst and never trailed again.
Turnovers continued to plague head coach JJ Redick’s club, which surrendered 15 points off giveaways before halftime and went to the locker room down 68-54. Doncic scored all of his team-high 22 points in the opening half, yet his production was not enough to offset Atlanta’s 54.3 percent shooting.
The Lakers opened the third quarter on a 7-2 run, only to see the Hawks respond with a 13-2 spurt that stretched the margin to 20. Rookie forward Mouhamed Gueye delivered a career performance, sparking Atlanta on both ends as the lead ballooned to 99-72 entering the fourth.
With little sign of a comeback and four more road games ahead, Redick emptied his bench early in the final period. Doncic logged just 27 minutes, while Jake LaRavia provided secondary scoring in the loss.
Up Next
The Lakers continue the trip Monday against the Charlotte Hornets before visiting the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.
Source: LakersNation.com
