Over the first nine minutes of the game, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers went on a dominating 34-9 run and then never looked back.
At the 9:20 mark in the third quarter, the Lakers held their biggest lead of 30. Over the next 6:36 minutes, they withstood a 29-9 run by the Hawks before eventually roaring back to improve to a league-best 11-2 record.
On a night when 5-time NBA Champion Kobe Bryant was in attendance, here are the biggest takeaways from the Lakers' comfortable victory.
Kobe getting the LOVE from Staples...@LakersTalkESPN pic.twitter.com/R2tPcsd0Jq
— ESPN Los Angeles (@ESPNLosAngeles) November 18, 2019
AD has off-night but LBJ delivers
Against a relatively weaker Hawks squad, Anthony Davis had an off-night. He finished with 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting in his 28 minutes of action.
However, the King showed up...and how!
In 33 minutes, LeBron recorded 33 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds on 13-of-21 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 from beyond the arc, while finishing with a game-best +30.
33 PTS | 7 REB | 12 AST | 6 3PM@KingJames stuffs the box score in the @Lakers W over ATL at @STAPLESCenter! #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/1BXxt5s51z
— NBA (@NBA) November 18, 2019
James continues to lead the league in assists, averaging 11.2 after this game. This game was his third this season with 10+ assists and his 11th double-double. He leads the league in 30-point, ,10-assist double-doubles this season with four, ahead of Trae Young and Luka Doncic (3)
Lakers' defence fuels offence
Against the Hawks, the Lakers played like the top-ranked defence in the league (defensive rating - 99.9). They recorded 14 blocks in comparison to just the two blocks by the Hawks, with Anthony Davis leading the charge with 5 on the night.
The Lakers' 14 blocks are the most they've had in a game since 2002.
While they did get sloppy with the ball in few stretches of the game, they were absolutely dominant in that opening nine-minute run.
Below: The Lakers' shot chart over the first nine minutes of the game
In the opening nine minutes, they recorded seven blocks and six steals while outscoring the Hawks 16-0 in fastbreak points. The Hawks' seven turnovers had led to 11 points for the Lakers.
King James spins it off the window... plus the foul! #LakeShow
— NBA (@NBA) November 18, 2019
Watch Live: https://t.co/3bTQPOmwYk pic.twitter.com/rkKhbMsxP3
Trae Young and Hawks wrap up tough 1-4 road trip
This game against the Lakers was the finale of a five-game Western Conference road trip for the shorthanded Hawks.
Other than a 42-point, 11-assist performance from Young in a win at Denver, this road trip has been a downward spiral for both Young and the Hawks.
They lost in overtime in Portland to the Trail Blazers and then lost to the Phoenix Suns (16), LA Clippers (49) and Los Angeles Lakers (21) by a combined margin of 86 points. In all four losses, the point guard is averaging 26.8 points on 31-of-86 shooting from the field (36.0%) and 8-of-34 (23.5%) from beyond the arc.
Today, Young finished with 31 points and seven assists on 11-of-22 shooting in 39 minutes of play.
The Hawks won't have too long to dwell on the road trip, as they host the Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in a couple of day's time.
