Hawks Pummeled by Lakers 132-113

The Atlanta Hawks lost in humiliating fashion to the Los Angeles Lakers, who came in losers of their last nine games. As a battle of the two cellar dwellers in each conference, this was not going to be billed as the most scintillating game of the season.

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The Lakers came out with a hellhound-like intensity that caught the Hawks completely unawares. Los Angeles are regarded as one of the worst defensive teams in the league, but on this night they were all over the Hawks, who were indecisive and woefully inept when faced with such pressure on offense.

Offensively, the Lakers were shooting the lights out of Staples Center, and some of the final numbers for the home team were just eye-popping: Brandon Ingram notched a team-high 20 points on 6 of 7 shooting, Jordan Clarkson had 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting and Larry Nance Jr. had 13 points on a perfect 6 of 6 shooting.

L.A. was so hot from the field that going into halftime they had 28 fast break points and the Hawks had 0. The Lakers finished the game with a league-wide high of 42 fast break points for the game. They were pushing the pace to an almost ridiculous degree, but it worked perfectly and they made the Hawks look terrible on defense.

The lone bright spot for the away team was Dennis Schröder, who finished with a game-high 27 points on 10 of 23 shooting (0 of 4 from deep). Dennis was carving up the Lakers’ defense, and in a disgusting first half for the Hawks, Schröder was the only reliable offensive option the team had.

John Collins had a bounce-back game after a few less-than-stellar performances in the recent weeks. JC finished with 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting including a beautiful made three-pointer – the first of his career.

Collins only notched 4 rebounds and was a -20 box plus/minus in his 20 minutes of play, but that minutes load is far, far too low for one of the Hawks’ most important building blocks going forward. A questionable decision from the coaching staff to be sure.

The shooting numbers from this game are totally indicative of the shellacking the Lakers put on the Hawks: the Lakers outshot the Hawks 55.8% to 43.6% from the field and 44.4% to 35.3% from three-point territory.

Other numbers further compound the Hawks dismal showing; the Hawks were outrebounded 49 to 37, and they were outassisted 32 to 22. This was total domination from the Lakers, and the Hawks had absolutely no answers.

Coach Bud tweaked his rotation in an attempt to get anything going for the Hawks offensively in the first half, as Tyler Dorsey received some early minutes in the 2^nd quarter. Dorsey’s offensive upside is among the highest on the team, so this was a promising decision from Bud. Of course, upside doesn’t always translate to in-game effectiveness and Dorsey promptly gave up an and-1 layup to the Lakers, and Bud pulled him soon after.

Mike Muscala returned in the extended garbage time in the 4^th quarter and looked sprightly and energized, which a good sign for the Hawks going forward. Musky had a follow dunk after a missed John Collins free throw, a clean three-pointer and another breakaway dunk after a steal – finishing with 9 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and a team-high +4 BPM in only 5 minutes of action.

Though Kent Bazemore was invisible in the Hawks disastrous 2^nd quarter (in which they were outscored by a massive 37 to 21 margin), he caught fire in the 3^rd quarter and finished with 15 points on 6 of 15 shooting, including 3 of 9 from three.

Returning to Dorsey, he looked confident in his stroke in the much more relaxed atmosphere of garbage time, and he canned two threes with ease during the final minutes of the 4^th quarter.

Tyler Cavanaugh, after having his contract guaranteed for the rest of the season, played 16 minutes and was a perfect 2 of 2 from three for 6 points.

The only silver lining that can be gained from this game is that the Hawks are now in sole possession of the worst record in the league, which means if the draft lottery was held tomorrow, the Hawks would have the best chance of landing the #1 overall pick.

For a rebuilding team, especially one in the early stages of a rebuild like Atlanta, high draft position is extremely important, and the Hawks are now in great position at the halfway mark of the season.

The Atlanta Hawks have no rest tomorrow, as they stay put at the Staples Center against the rejuvenated Clippers at 10:30 p.m. EST.

Next: Three Players the Atlanta Hawks Should Trade