The Lakers will look to build off their win in Washington as they take on the Hawks on Friday night
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Kobe Bryant farewell tour will make their next stop on Friday night as they travel to Phillips Arena to take on the Atlanta Hawks. The Lakers are coming off a huge win on Wednesday night wherein a vintage Kobe performance and one of the best performances of Julius Randle’s young career led them to victory over the Washington Wizards.
Against the Wizards, the Lakers played the most inspired basketball on both ends of the floor that they’ve played all season. The ball was moving on the offensive end of the floor, the effort and aggressiveness was present on both ends of the floor, and Kobe was playing one of his best games of the year in terms of shot-selection and not stopping the ball.
However, it’s worth noting that the Wizards seemed out of sorts for most of the night on Wednesday. Their offense seemed predictable and sloppy while their defense was more of the same. That’s almost certainly not going to be the case with the Hawks.
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Under the direction of Mike Budenholzer, the Hawks move the ball incredibly well and have a propensity for finding open shots on the perimeter. Knowing how the Lakers have struggled in terms of perimeter rotations and close-outs this season, that could be a tremendous problem on Friday night, especially with a sharpshooter like Kyle Korver in the fold. Moreover, the Hawks are a much more reliable defensive team, meaning the Lakers will need to be near pristine in terms of their own ball-movement if they want to score with Atlanta.
While things are more optimistic in Los Angeles after the road victory over the Wizards, they’re almost surely going to be facing another uphill battle on the road in Atlanta on Friday night. The question is whether the like of Kobe, Randle, Jordan Clarkson, and D’Angelo Russell can again show the promise that led them to a win earlier this week.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Atlanta Hawks
Date: Friday, Dec. 4
Start Time: 5 p.m. PT
Location: Atlanta, GA
Arena: Phillips Arena
TV Info: TWC Sportsnet, FOX Sports Southeast
Live Stream: NBA League Pass
Radio: Here
Betting Odds
Point Spread: Atlanta Hawks -11.5
Moneyline: Atlanta Hawks -850, Los Angeles Lakers +635
O/U: 202.5
Injury Report
Los Angeles Lakers: None
Atlanta Hawks: Tiago Splitter (Hip)—Out
Predictions
While the Lakers showed a ton of promise with their win on Wednesday, the Hawks are a different beast altogether. Their ball-movement has the potential to cause the Lakers a ton of problems on Friday and ultimately hand the Lakers another loss.
Next: Lakers Rumor: Everyone But Randle Could Be Up for Trade
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