LOS ANGELES—At first it appeared Lakers 7-footers Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol would overpower the Hawks.
Eventually the Hawks got those two under control and also held Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant to 10 points. Those should have been the hardest tasks since Atlanta can't measure up to the Lakers' size and Bryant leads the league in scoring.
But the strong defensive effort didn't matter because the Hawks missed so many short shots while losing 86-78 late Tuesday. The Hawks squandered a good chance to end their road losing streak to the Lakers at five games because they botched lots of bunnies.
“I don’t know how many layups we missed,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said after his team opened its five-game road trip with a defeat.
The answer: Atlanta missed 12 of 20 shots at the basket. The Hawks also couldn't make 3-pointers (7 of 27 ) or free throws (9 of 14) but missing so many high-percentage shots hurt them the most.
Atlanta missed four consecutive layup attempts while scoring 17 points in the second quarter and seven in a row during a 10-point third quarter. The Lakers blocked two layup attempts and at times it appeared as if the Hawks missed because they were looking out for Bynum and Gasol.
“We got to the rim,” Hawks guard Jeff Teague said. “That’s what we wanted to do. But we couldn’t finish.”
The Hawks still had a chance because of their defense, which included limiting Bryant to 5 of 18 shooting. Atlanta trimmed its deficit to 69-60 on Vladimir Radmanovic’s 3-pointer with less than eight minutes to play.
After a Lakers miss, Hawks forward Josh Smith threw the ball away. Los Angeles scored after an offense rebound and Joe Johnson made a jumper to trim the lead to nine again.
But Lakers guard Steve Blake shook free from Teague for a 3-pointer, Johnson carried the ball for a turnover and Gasol made a jump shot for a 76-62 lead. That was the last gasp for the Hawks, who couldn't cut the lead to less than 12 until Teague made four free throws in the final minute.
Atlanta lost despite forcing 17 turnovers, collecting 17 offensive rebounds and limiting Bryant to 19 points less than his scoring average.
“I think our defense was pretty good tonight but we missed a lot of easy shots,” said Johnson, who missed seven of eight 3-point attempts.
Bynum and Gasol overwhelmed the Hawks in the first quarter. They combined for 16 points, with all but two scored in the paint or at the free-throw line, and also totaled seven rebounds
Drew subbed Erick Dampier for Zaza Pachulia to give the Hawks more size to deal with Bynum. Dampier did his best to make Bynum catch the ball father away from the basket and Smith slowed Gasol's attack on the rim.
The Lakers' big men combined for just 19 points and 11 rebounds over the final three quarters. Bryant also was quiet, save for scoring eight points during a 12-0 run in the third quarter.
The Hawks trailed 42-41 at halftime and started the third period with an 8-2 burst that included three scores at the basket. But soon they were back to missing the short shots, and the Lakers found enough offense to pull away.
“We just have to have more focus when we are going to the rim,” Drew said. “You can’t be concerned about them blocking the shots or changing them.”
Johnson's entered the game needing 13 points to become the seventh player to score 10,000 for the Hawks. He finally did it with a 3-pointer in the final two minutes.
“It is what it is,” Johnson said. “Maybe if we could have got a win it would feel a lot better. My main focus right now is for us to try to get the rest of these games on the road.”
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