Los Angeles Lakers 54, Atlanta Hawks 33 – Half time Analysis
Coming into the game on the back of a three match losing skid, the mighty Los Angeles Lakers took on the Atlanta Hawks at the Staples centre on Tuesday.
After a defeat to the Orlando Magic 89-75 on February 13, the Lakers suffered a nasty 109-89 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on the very next night at Time Warner Cable
Arena. However, nothing was more embarrassing than losing to the league-worst Cleveland Cavaliers 104-99 on Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena. The good news for the home crowd at Staples Center is that the Lakers are leading the ongoing contest by 54-33
at halftime.
First Quarter Recap
Los Angeles did not seem to be bothered by the losing streak as they went on n 8-0 run in the opening minutes to take the control of the game. Joe Johnson’s dunk
shot and a jump shot by Al Horford however made it 8-4 for the Hawks.
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was in his groove from the very start. The Black Mamba led the Lakers, who launched a procession of lay-ups, jumper and dunks to reel off
an 18-8 spurt, capped by an alley-oop from Bryant with 59 ticks remaining in the first quarter. After a last second cherry picking play by Pau Gasol, the Lakers took an impressive 28-15 lead into the second.
Kobe led all scorers with 6 points in the first while Johnson and Jamal Crawford contributed 4 points apiece for Atlanta.
Second Quarter Recap
The Lakers came out hot in the second quarter. With 9:04 remaining till the break, Shannon Brown’s banged in a driving slam dunk shot from the corner to stretch the
lead to 11 points. The dunks shot spurred the Lakers on. The Hawks tried hard to clamp down the up-beat Lakers offense in the ensuing stretch, but failed miserably. The Lakers on the other hand continued their excellent shooting and carved through Hawks defense
at ease.
Their up-tempo game was accompanied by some smooth passing as they headed into the locker-room with a massive 21-point advantage.
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