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Lakers Win First Game on the Road and Hand Hawks Their First Loss

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In all their losses thus far, the Lakers found themselves trying to dig out of a hole. In Atlanta, they got down by 11 in the first half.

This time around, the comeback was complete as they overwhelmed the Hawks, 123-116.

The theme thus far for the Lakers this season is that they hang around. If you dump a double-digit lead on them, they’re going to keep coming back. I would like them to break out of that habit as the season goes on but what I want them to continue is that FIGHTING SPIRIT I had mentioned in the past. They seem to have that sense of urgency in the second half and it was too much for the Hawks, who lost their first game of the season.

Initially, they had a hard time stopping Dwight Howard. He did finish with 31 points and 11 boards and got some of the remaining Laker bigs (remember that Timofey Mozgov is hurt) in foul trouble (Ivica Zubac picked up four fouls in his first-ever NBA half). They also had a difficult time subduing Tim Hardaway, Jr. He had 26 points and had a five-point play late in the third that potentially swung the momentum of the game (2/3 FTs, offensive board, then a three-pointer).

But the Lakers went bonkers in the fourth quarter. They went on a 14-2 run to take a seven-point lead. I had remarked on Twitter that Lou Williams looked nonchalant putting up shots in the first half but he looked the complete opposite in the fourth. Lou scored 16 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and was a steady veteran presence for L.A. Sure, we were fearful of the Lakers blowing a lead late because of their youth. But they kept their poise and made the winning plays. Inside a minute left, Dennis Schroder’s lay-up got spiked by Julius Randle and that was followed by Nick Young’s game-clinching three (to put them up 7 with 17 seconds left) on an assist by D’Angelo Russell. The Lakers won their first game on the road.

Going into the game, the Lakers were averaging the most turnovers in the league. They had 10 in the first half and even committed another one 20 seconds into the third. But they settled down and only had four giveaways the rest of the game. The Hawks had 18 turnovers, which contributed heavily to their loss.

The Lakers had six guys in double figures. D’Angelo Russell had an impressive 23 points, 8 assists, and three blocks. Nick Young really played well on both ends once again (17 points, including the clutch three). Luol Deng missed three close-range shots in the fourth but, otherwise, he finished with a double-double (13 points and 10 rebounds). Larry Nance, Jr. continued to play with his unlimited energy (14 points) and Jordan Clarkson was hot fi-yah in the first half (finished with 16 points).

As for Ivica Zubac, he got off to a good start but it was obvious that the Hawks were picking on him from the start. They went to Dwight Howard early and often and, again, the ex-Laker had a great game. But the Lakers were able to keep Paul Millsap (10 points) and Kyle Korver (3 points) from getting it going. Schroder didn’t exactly stand out, either (11 points, 6 assists).

The Lakers are going home to face the deadly Golden State Warriors on Friday night. In the meantime, it is fantastic to see the Lakers get their first road win. Again, I don’t expect many wins but as long as they keep fighting, I’ll be happy with the progress of this rebuild.

Go enjoy the World Series, everyone.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. KevTheBold says

    Fun game ! 
    The Lakers are definitely competitive this season.
    It took super stars to beat them, but bringing Howard back off the bench wasn’t good enough.

    Take that Howard !
    GO Lakers !

  2. tnrc75 says

    Great win!  This is one to boost confidence.  I think the young Lakers are expecting this.  They believe they’lI win. I predict there will be many more exciting wins like this, on the road and at home.  It’s gonna be a fun year.

  3. Busboys4me says

    I hope you guys are finally happy. We got a win. Please stop criticizing NickY and Sweet Lou. The youngsters are not the only ones keeping us one games. The two old heads kept us in the game in the second half. Nick in the 3rd and Lou in the 4th. The team is fun to watch.
    I’m glad Bazemore chose ATL over LA, he complains too much and I wouldn’t want his influence on our team. The Lakers are way more fun when NickY is having fun….

  4. lalaker14 says

    I really like the “fight” in this team. The never give up, they just keep coming. Six Lakers in double figures is almost as impressive as the win! Luke is doing a great job!

    If we cut down on turnovers this could become a “spoiler” type team. Go LA!

  5. mindcrime says

    Busboys4me 
    Count me among those who were, at one time, bemoaning that Bazemore was yet another younger wing that LA let go.  I also recall some folks (perhaps myself included) pointing to his rejection of the Lakers’ offer of 4 years/72 mil to take slightly less (4 years/70 mil) to sign with ATL as not the most positive sign for the franchise.  With how Bazemore has looked so far this year (9-2-2 and a PER hovering around 8 in 31 minutes a game) it looks like this might have worked out ok, because his minutes are now Deng’s, Nick’s, and Ingram’s.

  6. mindcrime says

    It’s way too early to decide “what these things mean” based on one game of the first five of the year, but I was most intrigued by two things last night:

    1.  LA played 29 of 48 minutes without a “traditional” 5 on the floor last night, and the 19 minutes that Zubac played were subject to the “good” and “bad” already pointed out in the column.  Howard feasted as a result, but there were plays down the stretch (the DAR/Nance PNR for a Nance dunk late for example) where LA capitalized on Howard’s inability to keep up with speedier guys playing the “5” on the offensive end.  I’m not saying this means to keep Zubac or Mozgov nailed to the bench, or that this outcome guarantees future results, because the sample size is far too small, and it’s difficult to watch the other team destroy LA on the boards and in the paint when LA deploys that lineup.  I was simply intrigued by how well, for one night, true “small ball” was a very effective weapon.

    2.  Calderon and Huertas saw not a moment of action betwixt the two.  In addition to playing the vast majority of the game without a true big, LA played 17 minutes without a traditional PG on the floor too.  I don’t know what this means in the big picture.  It was simply interesting that neither of those two played.

  7. bluehill says

    mindcrime On point 1, Zu got into foul trouble pretty quickly, so that may have affected Luke’s thinking as well as, to your point, seeing a potential weakness in Dwight’s game and trying to exploit it. Interestingly, the team outrebounded ATL overall. Going forward, it’s a nice option to be able to go small or big depending on the opponent. 

    On point 3, coming into season, I thought that Nick (and Lou) could be a better fit
    in a GSW-style offense or at least Luke would try to put them in
    positions that would play to their offensive strengths.The defensive improvement is a nice surprise. Credit to Nick for not letting last year affect his attitude and for putting the work in to improve his game. It’s still early but he be the biggest surprise of the season so far for me. Luke and the coaching staff deserve credit too for getting Nick to buy in and improve his defense.

  9. fern16 says

    Impressive win, while i understand the concerns about b2b games if this team has something is youth. I dont think a b2b would affect them as it would a veteran club. They all looked pretty spry to me. Excellent win, great lesson. And i can see Zubac being the starter. Maybe not this season but soon enough. The boy has the skills…

  10. LKK says

    Fern you make a great point about Zubac. He had some very good minutes at the start of the 3rd. He ran the offense, set effective picks and generally had a positive effect. I hope as the season progresses, he gets more opportunities.

  11. Alexander_ says

    Last night, Zubac kicked off his NBA starter career with one of the toughest matchups for him. Tomorrow it will be different, as Zaza is not quite Dwight. I would love a monster game from Zu, just to see how Luke will deal with his minutes once Mozgov returns.

    No one on the team played more than 30 minutes again, so when combined with the youth factor, a B2B, especially coming off a win, may be less of a negative for us tomorrow. Also, we will be up to playing GSW for various reasons – superteam, past champions, Luke’s team, KD/BI, Draymond/Randle, etc. I think it’s a game we can win.

    This next game is a canary in the mine – a win gets us to 3-3 with 4 of 6 on the road against playoff caliber teams. Even early on, when we are installing new systems and rooks. It’ll bode well for the season.

  12. LordMo says

    Nice win young fellas and Lou! Got to wonder if Lou was letting the hometown know they missed out on signing him.