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Luka Doncic, Lakers embrace challenge vs. short-handed Hawks
Some of the luster will be missing Saturday night when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Atlanta Hawks in a game that will be contested without two marquee stars.
The Lakers will be without LeBron James, who didn’t make the team’s five-game road trip and has yet to play this season because of a sciatica issue. James was cleared to resume basketball activities on Thursday and will be re-evaluated over a two-week period.
The Hawks are without Trae Young, who will miss at least three more weeks with a sprained right MCL before he is re-evaluated. Atlanta is 2-2 without Young in the lineup.
Young’s absence also deflates his ongoing rivalry with Lakers star Luka Doncic. The Hawks originally selected Doncic in the first round in 2018 but traded him to Dallas minutes later on draft night for Young.
Doncic almost is averaging a triple-double with 40.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 9.2 assists in 39 minutes per game this season.
The Lakers have won five straight games, including 118-116 over San Antonio on Wednesday.
The Hawks squandered a 13-point lead on Friday and lost 109-97 to Toronto, dimming their chances to advance in the NBA Cup tournament.
Los Angeles coach J.J. Redick credited the team’s defensive effort — including Doncic, who finished the game with five personal fouls — for the win over the Spurs.
“There wasn’t matador defense,” Redick said. “He still guarded. And that was huge. The reason we won the game is because we guarded in the fourth quarter. Our fourth-quarter defense was the No. 1 reason we won the game.”
The Lakers may see the return of Austin Reaves on Saturday. Reaves, who averages 31.1 points, has missed two games with a groin injury. He was able to participate in the shootaround on Wednesday, however.
“It was the right decision, both from him and from performance, to hold him out,” Redick said. “Those injuries, or a further injury on that, is hard. I’ve had them. I’ve had surgery; we’re trying to be safe with him.”
Atlanta played without backup Luke Kennard (flu-like symptoms) on Friday and could be without Jalen Johnson on Saturday. Johnson sprained his right ankle during the fourth quarter on Friday and went to the bench for treatment with 52 seconds remaining.
The Hawks continue to feel their way along without Young, whose offensive presence as a scorer and ball distributor is missed.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 20 points on Friday but had three turnovers and only three assists. The Hawks shot only 34.4% from the floor and 23.7% on 3-pointers.
“There’s a lot of things with the new group, and everybody’s in a slightly different role,” Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said. “We’re trying to merge that together. We’ve just got to work at it.”
This will be Atlanta’s final home game before the team starts a four-game road trip and a stretch that has the Hawks playing eight of 10 games on the road.
–Field Level Media
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