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Los Angeles Lakers: Luke Walton not pleased with turnovers against Hawks

By Nick Ziegler

ATLANTA, GA - FEBRUARY 26: Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during the game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena on February 26, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - FEBRUARY 26: Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during the game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena on February 26, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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The Los Angeles Lakers recently earned a nice win over the Atlanta Hawks. However, Luke Walton was not overly pleased.

On Monday night, the Los Angeles Lakers were able to pick up their third straight win over the Atlanta Hawks in rather easy fashion. While the score was very lopsided and looked like the Lakers played a great game, there were certainly some flaws in the win for the Lakers.

The main problem for the Lakers were the turnovers. At times this season, turnovers have been killers for the Lakers, and they turned the ball over far too often against the Hawks. In the win, the Lakers turned it over 23 times. While no one player turned it over more than three times, every player that stepped on the floor for the Lakers had at least one turnover.

Fortunately, the Hawks were unable to capitalize on these turnovers, as they shot the ball pretty poorly from the floor. However, head coach Luke Walton recognized this problem and addressed it. After the game, Walton talked about the team’s performance. Here’s what he said via Spectrum Sports Net, with text from Corey Hansford of LakersNation.com.

"“Good win, but we’ve got to be much better. That’s not the road mentality we talk about. The two biggest things for our road mentality and what we try to work on as a group are not turning the ball over and not fouling. We were awful in both of those tonight. Atlanta had a lot of open shots they missed in the first half, so we were able to get a lead. I liked the pace we played at, it was just more sloppy than I’d like, and I think our group knows we have to be better than that.”"

If the Lakers were playing probably almost any other team in the NBA on Monday night, the final score would have likely been different. Turning the ball over 23 times on the road is usually the recipe for a blowout loss. However, the Hawks are clearly one of the worst teams in the NBA, and the Lakers were able to get away with these mistakes.

In addition to the struggles protecting the ball, the Lakers once again didn’t shoot it particularly well from the free throw. As a team, the Lakers went 14-for-19 from the free throw line, which is a slightly better percentage than their yearly average. However, it still isn’t very good. While the Lakers did have some great performances in the game, they have to clean up the turnovers.

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On Thursday, the Lakers will be continuing their East Coast swing as they play the Miami Heat. With the Heat being a much better team than the Hawks, the Lakers will have to make sure that they clean up some of their mistakes.

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