The Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Lakers are about as far apart as you can get when it comes to team success. The Lakers are sitting at the top of the Western Conference, with a top five offense and a top ten defense. The Hawks, on the other hand are one loss shy of being the worst team in the Eastern Conference, with a an offense and defense ranking near the bottom of the league.
These two teams have already met once before, with the Lakers winning handily 122-101. It’s hard to imagine that there won’t be a similar result this time around, but Trae Young is a player who can get hot at a moment’s notice, and has the playmaking to go along with it to will his team to a victory.
The Lakers have been good about beating bad teams so far, and so there’s no reason to suspect that the result won’t be any different than the last time these two teams met. But still, the Hawks are a frisky team, with young players who play hard every night, and so, the Lakers need to consider these three keys to victory.
Spoiler:
1. Attack Trae Young on offense
Trae Young, for all of his offensive talents, is by far the Hawk’s weakest defender, as his on/off numbers show that the team gives up a whopping +11.7 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor. LeBron James has a knack for finding the mismatch and exploiting it to it’s fullest, so don’t be surprised if we see him try to get Young switched onto him throughout the game.
Going after Young should also tire him out, and limit what he’s able to do on the offensive end of the floor. To be fair to Young, it’s not for a lack of trying on his part, it’s just that he simply lacks the physical tools to be an even average defender.
It also should be noted that as bad as Young is on defense, he is essential to the Hawk’s offense, as his USG% is 37.5% and the team scores +14.9 points per 100 possessions when he’s out there. So this number right here is a major reason why the team needs to do all they can to limit Young.
2. Protect the paint
The Hawks don’t do a lot of things very well, but what they do excel in is getting to the paint. The team currently ranks 5th in shot attempts at the rim and 11th in field goal percentage. It all starts with Trae Young, whose shooting and dribble penetration are huge factors in the Hawks being successful in the paint.
The Lakers have the guards to stay in front of Young and limit his ability to bomb from three, and they have the rim protection to limit his dribble penetration. Anthony Davis has been trucking along for his DPOY campaign, averaging 2.6 blocks per game, and shouldn’t have any problems maintaining that pace against the Hawks.
3. Don’t get complacent
This perhaps the most simple key to the game, but also the most important. The Lakers have the best record in the Western Conference at 23-3, tied with the Bucks for the best record in the entire league and are currently on an impressive twelve game road winning streak.
Even with how bad the Hawks have been this season, and boy have they been bad, the Lakers still need to come out guns blazing and set the tone early. In what is projected to be a tough December schedule, the team can’t afford to lose these ‘gimme’ games, especially in the Western Conference.
Cam missing sucks but I don’t understand Vince there. Yes we’re down three but they gifted us an easy two and he declined it. We were playing great defense all night, take the points.
Re: Game Thread: Lakers @ Hawks -- 12/15
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 1:40 pm
by Dajadeed
Radioblacktive1 wrote:Cam missing sucks but I don’t understand Vince there. Yes we’re down three but they gifted us an easy two and he declined it. We were playing great defense all night, take the points.
You all had a timeout too and the Lakers have some shaky free throw shooting.
Re: Game Thread: Lakers @ Hawks -- 12/15
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 3:34 pm
by bigdavid
Why doesn't Evan Turner get any burn? He played well for the Blazers and the Celts. The way this season is going it could not be worse.
Re: Game Thread: Lakers @ Hawks -- 12/15
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 3:41 pm
by kg01
bigdavid wrote:Why doesn't Evan Turner get any burn? He played well for the Blazers and the Celts. The way this season is going it could not be worse.
Turner has been bad for us though. And I'm not one of these weird Turner-haters either. I'm one who figured he'd slide in and help us.
I will say this though, some folks credit some of the progress Reddish has made to Turner being in his ear on the bench. To me, that's his role just like Vince's was last year for Trae.
Unfortunately we actually need him to play well too. It just hasn't panned out.
During Sunday’s game against the Lakers, the Hawks had a chance to tie the score late in the fourth quarter, but Reddish missed a wide-open 3, which effectively ended Atlanta’s chances to steal a win from the Western Conference’s best team.
“I told him to keep his head up,” Young said. “We’ve all missed shots in those moments, me in particular. He’s going to have more of those moments. Cam had a wide-open shot, and he’s going to make some and miss some. I just wanted to keep his spirits high and keep going.”
