Lakers grades vs. Hawks: Mamukelashvili and Sexton fill in as LA wins sixth straight
Without Austin Reaves, the Lakers got 23 points from Sandro Mamukelashvili and 32 from Luka Doncic to beat Atlanta 124-114 and reach 10-2.
The Los Angeles Lakers won 124-114 in Atlanta on Monday with Austin Reaves and Quentin Grimes both out. The win was their sixth in a row and moved them to 10-2. Luka Dončić was back after sitting out Sunday's win in Detroit, but the bigger story was that the Lakers got scoring from players outside their top two. That is what made a back-to-back sweep possible.
In his player grades for SB Nation's Silver Screen and Roll, Jacob Rude gave Sandro Mamukelashvili an A+. Mamukelashvili came off the bench for 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting, made five of his eight 3-pointers and finished +20, the best mark on the team. Rude called it his best game as a Laker, and coach JJ Redick said the same afterward, telling AFP, via Al Jazeera, that "Sandro had his best game as a Laker." Collin Sexton and Walker Kessler both got A grades. Sexton scored 18 with six assists and made three of his four 3-point attempts. Kessler had 21 points and 10 rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting. Rude also gave Redick an A for winning both nights of the back-to-back without a full roster.
Dončić finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists, five steals and two blocks. He was only 3-of-11 from 3-point range and had six turnovers, and Rude graded him an A-. Bleacher Report noted that his run of four straight 40-point games ended. Bleacher Report also wrote that Atlanta kept crowding Dončić, so he spent the first half setting up teammates and had eight assists by halftime. The Lakers led by 11 at the half. The Hawks pulled within four with under five minutes left behind CJ McCollum's 21 points off the bench. Dončić then scored in the lane and found Jake LaRavia for a dunk to put the game away. Atlanta fell to 7-5, and its four-game winning streak ended.
Ziaire Williams added 12 points and got a B+. LaRavia, Matisse Thybulle and Jarred Vanderbilt each got a B. Rookies Adou Thiero and Cameron Carr played a few minutes each.
What it means for Milwaukee
The Lakers play the Bucks in Milwaukee on Wednesday with one day of rest. They are 10-2 overall and 5-1 on the road, and their only road loss came at Golden State. They are scoring 122.1 points per game and allowing 114.4, a margin of nearly eight points a game. The offense has been even better during the six-game streak, averaging about 126 points per win, and the Lakers scored at least 116 in each of those games.
The main question is who will be available. There has been no update yet on whether Reaves (illness) or Grimes (sprained right finger) can play Wednesday. Reaves scored 43 points against the Pistons in the one game Dončić missed this weekend. The Lakers have now won once without Dončić and once without Reaves, and each time the bench made up the difference. If both are back, the Lakers will have their usual rotation again. If not, they will need another big game from the bench in Milwaukee.
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