ATLANTA — The Lakers’ response to back-to-back embarrassing performances was what it needed to be on Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks.
Their offensive intentionality was at a higher level. Their defense, although they went through their struggles, was significantly more dialed in compared to their 41-point loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
And their star players, who took accountability for the team’s recent skid, stepped up for one of their better combined performances of the season – but it wasn’t enough, with the Lakers dropping their third straight game to end their four-game trip.
LeBron James (39 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals) and Anthony Davis (38 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, two blocks) combined for 77 points, but the Lakers (12-11) lost for the seventh time in their past nine games, 134-132, after Trae Young (31 points, 20 assists) hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with eight seconds left in overtime.
There was a concerted effort to get Davis more involved offensively, especially early after he combined for 20 points on 7-of-28 shooting in the losses to the Heat and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.
Davis finished 15 for 27 from the field, just the second time he’s recorded at least 20 field goal attempts over the past eight games. He had more first-half points (22) than he totaled in the previous two games combined.
And in the game’s most precarious moment, the Lakers went to the James-Davis pick-and-roll, with James assisting Davis on a 19-foot stepback jumper to give the Lakers a 132-129 lead with 40 seconds left in OT.
On the Lakers’ ensuing possession after Jalen Johnson made a pair of free throws to cut the Hawks’ deficit to 132-131, Davis’ errant pass to James was picked off by Dyson Daniels, who pushed the ball up the floor looking for a dunk before James came from behind with a chase-down block to maintain the Lakers’ one-point lead.
James carried a significant scoring burden in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 of the Lakers’ 22 points in the period.
The 39-year-old James hit an 18-footer to put the Lakers ahead 115-111 with just under two minutes remaining in regulation. The Hawks responded with a corner 3-pointer from Daniels, cutting their deficit back to one.
Trying to inbound the ball while also taking time off the game clock, Davis slow-rolled his inbounds pass to Gabe Vincent, but drew an offensive foul when Daniels ran into the backcourt looking to steal the ball.
Daniels hit a floater on the Hawks’ ensuing possession to put Atlanta ahead 116-115 with 1:31 remaining before Vincent connected with Davis on an alley-oop to put the Lakers back up by one, 117-116.
De’Andre Hunter hit a 3-pointer to give the Hawks a brief two-point lead before James made a layup to tie the score at 119 with 12.9 seconds left.
Max Christie blocked Trae Young’s 3-point attempt before the end-of-regulation buzzer to send the game into overtime.
Moments after hitting a 3-pointer to trim the Lakers’ deficit to 123-122 in the extra period, Christie fouled out.
Gabe Vincent, who was reinserted back into the starting lineup, hit a pull-up 3-pointer to give the Lakers a 130-127 lead with 1:44 left in overtime.
A sign of the Lakers’ increased defensive effort: they drew four charges on Friday night after recording nine total in their first 22 games: a pair from Vincent, one from James and one from Russell.
But they didn’t get enough stops down the stretch for it to matter in the standings.
More to come on this story.