The Atlanta Hawks are attempting to stay perfect on their four-game road trip as they head to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers
Ever since the Atlanta Hawks traded Trae Young, they have been playing a better brand of basketball and are 3-0 in his absence from the team, which includes victories over the Nuggets and Warriors on Atlanta's four-game road stretch. The trip out west concludes with matchups against the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers.
Atlanta is 20-21, good for ninth in the Eastern Conference, while the Lakers are 23-14, and sit comfortably as the fifth seed in a tough Western Conference. Tip-off for Hawks-Lakers is set for 10:30 P.M. EST on Tuesday. The Hawks defeated the Lakers in their first matchup back in November by 20 (122-102), and they were without star forward Jalen Johnson.
Jalen Johnson reportedly trained with Lakers' star Lebron James in the offseason, so he has likely had this game circled on his calendar as he gets to go up against "The King" James.
Game Preview: Atlanta Hawks vs. Los Angeles Lakers
CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert were welcomed into the Hawks lineup on Sunday, and they will likely be depended on again in Tuesday's contest, as Luke Kennard and Asa Newell may miss this contest with injury. Kristaps Porzingis remains out of the lineup, but Atlanta should return Zaccharie Risacher back into the fold against the Lakers.
Atlanta is a very surprising 6-0 on the West Coast this season, which ties into their record on the road (13-10), being much better than their record at State Farm Arena (7-11). That's promising for Hawks fans because those lulls at home are less likely to continue.
The Lakers played on Monday, so being that it's a back-to-back, the injury report is very up in the air on who will be on the court, and those decisions will likely be made closer to tip-off.
Atlanta has won five of its last seven games, and a large reason the team has found more success is due to its effort on the defensive end of the court. However, facing a Lakers team with Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Lebron James, and more will put that to the test.
Over the past seven games, Atlanta has given up just 107 PPG, which is way down from their average of giving up 118 PPG.
Hawks vs. Lakers Game Prediction
I will try to make it a theme on here to give game predictions each Hawks gameday, but this is a great game to kick things off with.
FanDuel SportsBook currently has the Hawks as three-point favorites against the Lakers, which points out to me that the Lakers may be without Austin Reaves and Lebron James.
The official injury reports and statuses have not been revealed, so expect that betting line to change, but I'm just using it as a basis for the prediction.
I'll go ahead and take the Hawks to win outright in this one. They are playing much better defense, and are a hungry team at the moment. The departure of Trae Young has proven to be a good one to this point, and I like the Hawks to get back to .500 in this one and continue applying pressure in the Eastern Conference standings.
The All-Star break and NBA trade deadline are nearing, and the Hawks are looking to finish strong before the final two months of the regular season.