Khadrice Rollins
krollins@ajc.com
On a night when Tim Hardaway Jr. poured in 26 points, he was unable to get much help from any of his other backcourt mates, as the Lakers’ four-guard rotation of D’Angelo Russell, Nick Young, Lou Williams and Jordan Clarkson combined for 74 to lead Los Angeles to a 123-116 win Wednesday night at Philips Arena.
In the first quarter, Hardaway connected on 4 of 5 attempts from deep and scored 16 to help the Hawks (3-1) build a 37-28 advantage. In the second however, Hardaway was almost nonexistent in the offense during his six-plus minutes of action, and the Hawks proved to have no answer for either Clarkson or Russell as they put up 19 of Los Angeles’ (2-3) 23 points in the period.
“They got a few guys that are really hard to guard,” shooting guard Kyle Korver said. “They made a lot of mid-range shots, which is what we typically try to make guys shoot.”
In the third quarter, Russell continued to pick apart the Hawks’ defense, and Young decided to join him. Young shot 5-of-7 in the quarter including 2-of-3 from long range as his 12 points led all scorers in the third. The duo shot 50 percent from the field on the night and 40 percent on 3-point shots. Russell’s 23 led the team and his eight assists were a game-high.
Meanwhile for the Hawks, Korver, Dennis Schroder, Malcolm Delaney and Thabo Sefolosha provided little assistance through the first three quarters while Los Angeles (2-3) trimmed the deficit from 12 to four.
The starting duo of Schroder and Korver struggled for most of the night, scoring seven of their combined 14 points in the final quarter. Schroder finished with 11, but needed 11 shots to get there. And Korver went just 1-of-6 with all his looks coming from behind the arc.
Atlanta’s guards did combine for 18 assists as they were able to get Dwight Howard multiple easy looks all game, but feeding the post was not enough to keep up with the Lakers late.
“We got to move it a little bit more, drive it a little bit more,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Dwight had a pretty big game inside so I think we had some advantage there. 116 points at the end of the day is enough points. We should win with 116.”
In the fourth quarter, Williams, a metro Atlanta native and former Hawk, decided to join in on the scoring barrage. His 16-point quarter also featured three assists, including one for a Brandon Ingram three that gave the Lakers a lead they would not relinquish.
Korver and the Hawks found out the hard way that, “when Lou wants to go left, he really wants to go left.” Williams ended the game with 18 points did a little bit of everything in the final 12 minutes as he made all four of his free throws, was 2-of-3 on 3-point shots and had two steals as well.
“It’s just always fun to win in Atlanta,” Williams said. “Just to be able to go out there make shots in front of the home crowd and hear them cheer for you, it’s always fun.”
Between his family and friends, and fans wearing purple and gold, there were plenty of cheers for Williams and the Lakers throughout the night. And it was those fans who got the final cheer when with 17.9 seconds left, Young went full on Swaggy P and put the dagger in the Hawks with a corner 3 that sent Atlanta fans to the exits.
“They just played better than us,” Hardaway said. “I give credit where credit is due.”
