The Los Angeles Lakers comfortably dispatched the Atlanta Hawks 119-102 at Crypto.com Arena on Friday to improve to 20-14 on the season. The Lakers welcomed Anthony Davis back into the lineup after he missed Thursday’s win over the Portland Trail Blazers due to injury, but it was LeBron James who stole the show here.
James made history in the process with 30 points (13-20 FG), three rebounds, and eight assists in the contest. He surpassed Michael Jordan for the most 30-point games in NBA history with 563 and has found his groove after a rough stretch earlier in the season. Lakers fans were thrilled to get this win and by James’ performance.
“At 40 years of age and in his 22nd season, an old man is not supposed to dominate guys half his age. But only LeBron can do it because he is absolutely the greatest player of all time,” one fan hailed James as the greatest ever.
“They really told LeBron James it was time to retire over a slump. Lmao,” one called out those who wanted James to retire amid his rough stretch.
“This was a great game. Defense, Ball movement, Bron Scoring on a B2B, DFS showing up, AR Chill, MC defense on Trae,” one praised the whole team for this display.
“We are 1 trade away from the chip! Get Bruce Brown and Kessler,” one fan believes this team is just one trade away from winning it all.
“Lakers in 4th place! In your face Barkley,” one fan took shots at Charles Barkley for not being high on the Lakers.
The Lakers have now climbed up to fourth in the standings in the Western Conference. They have won eight of their last 11 games and are rolling.
James wasn’t the only one to impress against the Hawks. Davis had 18 points (6-17 FG), 19 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and three blocks on his return. Austin Reaves, meanwhile, saw his four-game streak of 10+ assists get snapped but still had 20 points (6-18FG), seven rebounds, and six assists.
Rui Hachimura (13 points) and Dalton Knecht (13 points) also scored in double digits and it was a great team effort. All these contributions meant the Lakers were never really in much trouble in this game. They took the lead early in the first quarter and never looked back.
For the Hawks, Trae Young led the way with 33 points (10-22 FG), nine assists, and one steal. Jalen Johnson had a solid showing too with 19 points (8-13 FG), eight rebounds, one assist, and one block while Onyeka Okongwu had 14 points (7-12 FG), 11 rebounds, two assists, and a block.
No one else really impressed on offense, however, and the Hawks have now lost two in a row to drop to 18-17 on the season. They’ll now hope to put an end to this losing streak when they take on the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome on Saturday at 10:30 PM ET.
As for the Lakers, they take on the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on Sunday at 7 PM ET. The 22-12 Rockets are currently third in the West and the Lakers would be keen to close the gap between them.
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