Young’s late three adds to Lakers’ despair

ATLANTA: The Los Angeles Lakers’ woes continue as they suffered their third loss in a row on Friday, at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks, who are on a six-game winning streak.

Los Angeles can’t seem to find their rhythm. After back to back devastating losses to the Timberwolves and Heat, in which the Lakers had their two largest point deficits of the season, they men in purple and gold desperately needed a win. Meanwhile, the Hawks have been dominating as of late, winning their last six games in a row.

THE GAME

Despite the loss, Lebron James and Anthony Davis had an excellent game, scoring 77 of the Lakers 132 points. James scored 39 points on a 56 per cent clip from the field, hitting 15 of his 27 shots. Similarly, Davis had 38, shooting 55.6 per cent from the field as he hit 15 of his 27 shots.

Trae Young had 31 points for the Hawks, hitting nine shots, on a less than stellar 36 per cent clip from the field. However, he hit the shot that mattered most, at the very end of the game.

But, before the Hawks found themselves down by one point in overtime with less than 20 seconds left on the clock, they played four highly contested quarters against the Lakers. It was a back and forth affair, with an immense 32 lead changes across the match. After neither team could break past the other in the first, the Hawks got up to a six-point lead in the second. Early on in the third, the Lakers had conquered that deficit and began pulled ahead themselves, leading by 11 early on in the quarter. But, by the end of it, the Hawks would be three points away from levelling the game.  

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In the fourth, the Lakers would find themselves down by two with less than 20 seconds left. James would drive into the paint alongside Davis. He would attempt a pass to the big man, only for it to deflect off his hands. Thankfully for the Lakers, James would grab the deflection and lay it up to send the game into overtime.

Even with five more minutes of play, the two teams struggled to separate from one another, leading to a similar situation in the closing moments of the game. The Hawks were down by one, with 25 on the clock. LeBron would inbound the ball to Davis, who quickly found himself surrounded. The Hawks would tie him up to force a jump ball that subsequently resulted in the rock heading out of bounds once again.

Jalen Johnson would inbound to Clint Capela, who would immediately pass it on to Young. The Hawks star would slow down the pace of play, before passing it onto De’Andre Hunter, who was immediately double teamed. That left Young wide open to receive the pass from number 12 and sink the three with seven seconds left on the clock.

The Hawks would win the game 132 to 131 continuing their impressive streak.  

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