Lakers 130 - Hawks 121

12/30/22

The 14-21 Lakers faced off against the 17-18 Atlanta Hawks tonight, which also happened to be the night of King James’ 38th birthday. Lebron took center stage on his birthday posting 47 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists, a season high for James as well as a near triple double. Lebron going 4/6 from the 3 point line was refreshing after having been 2/16 from deep in the last 3 games preceding this one.  He also got a few buckets off the running-baseline-turn around-jumper he’s been splashing recently (fellow Lakers fans, what are we calling that??) Although the final score shows the Lakers taking victory, it definitely wasn’t easy. The team had to overcome a double digit deficit in the first half and had to maintain control throughout the close game. For the Hawks, some insight about Onyeka Okongwu was provided by the Lakers’ 75 points in the paint. He’s simply not tall enough to be a full-time center. Those 75 points in the paint did not pair nicely for Okongwu with Thomas Bryant nearly posting a low-key 20/20 game. Bryant had 19 points and 17 rebounds on 80% from the field. Bryant has been a small bright spot in what seems to be the black hole of this Lakers squad.