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Lakers vs Hawks: Russell Westbrook is getting outshined by nearly everyone

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 07: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates his basket against the Atlanta Hawks with Malik Monk #11 in the first half at Crypto.com Arena on January 07, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. 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 Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 07: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates his basket against the Atlanta Hawks with Malik Monk #11 in the first half at Crypto.com Arena on January 07, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. 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 Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
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(Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers were looking for a season-high four-game winning streak by welcoming Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks to town. The Los Angeles Lakers now have a huge opportunity to make a run in the standings after defeating the Atlanta Hawks 134-118.

With the matchup with the Sacramento Kings coming up soon (Checking the calendar…AWWWWW THEM AGAIN!), a win over the Memphis Grizzlies this weekend and the Lakers can be considered relevant again to talk about on sports shows.

This game was all about Trae Young. Coming into this game, he set an NBA record scoring 56 points and dishing out 14 assists.

The Los Angeles Lakers were all over him in this game showing him different looks and they made sure he couldn’t breathe to get off his 3 point shots. After putting on a basketball assault on the Portland Trail Blazers, the Lakers held him to 25 points and 14 assists. Here’s the difference, they put Young in an ice tray turning him over NINE TIMES! That’s the game folks!

LeBron James did his usual thing scoring 32 points (13-24 shooting!), 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks, sold hot dogs and beer, next year’s season ticket packages…you get the point.

But he had a ton of help Lakers fans, this game was not about the Lakers NEEDING his production but just USING his production.

The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:

The Los Angeles Lakers smartly signed Avery Bradley!

This has nothing to do with how well he played in this game because he was cooking with fish grease in the first quarter. Let’s take care of the long-term effects of the Lakers had he not signed. See it is the belief of Lake Show Life that the Golden State Warriors would have found a way to rectify the mistake of upsetting Stephen Curry and Draymond Green by getting him on their roster. Had that situation occurred, the Lakers would have had no chance of winning a game in a playoff series.

Now the game…

Avery Bradley came out on fire in the first quarter scoring 13 points on 5-6 shooting while providing the defense that he always does.

He finished with 21 points and 6 rebounds. If he didn’t get in foul trouble, he would have dished out more damage.

Malik Monk!   

This writer from Lake Show Life knew about this dude long before he came to Los Angeles. This is the steal of the offseason. This is one of the best free-agent acquisitions for the money the Lakers have picked up in years. If this franchise wants to keep him, they had better start finding coins in the couches, borrow some money from Sweet Daddy Williams from the TV show Good Times or something. Monk’s stock is through the roof at this point!

If you thought Avery Bradley was on fire, Lik’ Lik’ made it look like he was in a slump with 16 points in his first 10 minutes missing only one shot in seven attempts. He hit all of his three shots from beyond the arc while looking like he was easy like Sunday morning.

Malik finished with the starting spot for the immediate future and 29 points (7-12 from the land of the extra point!), 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. This dude is a flat-out stud and major props go to David Fizdale and Phil Handy for giving this guy a shot when Frank Vogel was out. Now Lakers fans now know what this writer knew the second he was signed.

The end of the third quarter was sponsored by…Carmelo Anthony and Talen Horton-Tucker!

If the Los Angeles Lakers can bottle this and use it for the rest of the season, they could seriously be all right. With LeBron James on the bench, these two started lighting up the Crypto.com Arena. Melo does what he always does knocking down big jumpers. That’s nothing new, he’s been doing that all season long.

But this THT dude?

Man, he put together his own personal 10-point run to stretch the Lakers’ lead going into the last quarter. Oh, and there was this thing that he did right here…

To anyone that had an issue with LeBron James jumping around…stop hating because the staff was running around doing the exact same thing. Then if that wasn’t enough, THT hit LeBron with a perfect alley-oop pass (Video shown here!) for yet another dunk to force an Atlanta timeout.

Carmelo Anthony finished with 17 points and THT scored 21.

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