Trae Young and Dejounte Murray combined for 50 points to lead all six Hawks starters in double figures as Atlanta blew by the LA Lakers at home 138-122 on Wednesday (all times AEDT).
It marked a second loss for LA in as many days as it slumped back to below .500 on the season at 24-25.
Having controlled the game in the first half, the Hawks ballooned out their lead with three-straight buckets to start the third term as the Lakers had no answers on the defensive end of the floor.
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Darvin Ham’s side, which was without Anthony Davis on the second end of a back-to-back, didn’t get any closer than 10 for the rest of the way as its lacklustre season continued, with a trade shake-up looming ahead of next week’s deadline.
But can a trade even save the Lakers’ season? Ironically, a player who lit it up for the opposition Hawks, Murray, is on their radar.
Indeed, Murray’s performance (24 points, on 11-of-19 shooting, four rebounds, nine assists, two steals) was particularly fascinating with the backdrop of the LA reportedly in discussions to acquire the star guard, as he showed LeBron James and company what he can do in a statement game.
According to Hawks PR, Murray’s seventh-straight game with 20-plus points is tied for the second-longest such streak in his career.
It was recently reported that the two teams had held talks over a Murray for D’Angelo Russell swap, but talks hit a roadblock after Atlanta wanted to find a third team for Russell instead of landing him.
Hawks fans on Wednesday let their thoughts be known on the potential of acquiring Russell, chanting ‘we don’t want you’ when he shot free throws at one stage during the contest.
Russell ended with just nine points and six assists, while Austin Reaves, who the Lakers have reportedly put off limits in any trades, scored a team-high 28 for the visitors to go with six assists and LeBron James added 20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Atlanta improved to 20-27 to climb into the East’s No. seed and final play-in spot.
In another curious development, Lakers centre Christian Wood post-match clarified a cryptic ‘lol’ tweet he made shortly before the game tipped off in what appeared to be a reaction to Jaxson Hayes getting the starting nod ahead of him for Davis.
Wood claimed he meant to quote-tweet another post but accidentally didn’t, saying it wasn’t meant to come to come off as it did.
ELSEWHERE …
Jayson Tatum dropped 30 points with seven rebounds and seven assists as the Boston Celtics held off a plucky Indiana Pacers side 129-124 to improve its NBA-best record to 37-11.
It came despite the return of Tyrese Haliburton in just his second game with Pascal Siakam, though the superstar point guard played just 22 minutes, tallying 13 points and 10 assists.
Former Celtic Aaron Nesmith meanwhile produced one of his best ever performances against his old side, racking up 26 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in a team-high 41 minutes.
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ALL RESULTS
JAZZ 103 KNICKS 118
PACERS 124 CELTICS 129
LAKERS 122 HAWKS 138
RAPTORS 118 BULLS 107
SIXERS – WARRIORS
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