Lakers win sixth straight without Reaves as Doncic's 32 holds off Hawks, 124-114
Luka Doncic had 32 points and 10 assists as the Lakers, missing Austin Reaves, beat Atlanta 124-114 to go 10-2 before a trip to Milwaukee.
The Los Angeles Lakers were missing their hottest scorer on Monday night and still extended their winning streak to six. Luka Doncic had 32 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists in a 124-114 win over the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena. That moved Los Angeles to 10-2, the best record in the Pacific Division.
The Lakers played without guard Austin Reaves, who sat out with an illness a day after scoring 43 points in Detroit, ESPN's Associated Press recap reported. The rest of the rotation covered for him. Walker Kessler had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and three of his dunks were alley-oops off drives by Collin Sexton, who scored 18 off the bench. Sandro Mamukelashvili added 23 points and went 5 of 8 from three.
Los Angeles shot 45 of 85 from the field and 15 of 35 from deep, according to the CBS Sports box score. The Lakers also had 16 steals, against 12 for Atlanta. The Hawks gave the ball away 19 times, and Peachtree Hoops counted 29 Lakers points off those turnovers. That was the margin on a night when Atlanta beat Los Angeles on the offensive glass, 12 to 8.
The game swung back and forth. The Lakers scored 31 points to Atlanta's 22 in the first quarter and led by 20 in the second, with Doncic racking up eight assists before halftime. The Hawks were down nine at the break and won the third quarter 33-27. Dyson Daniels scored to make it 115-111 with 3:30 left. The Lakers answered with six straight points, including a Doncic driving layup and an assist from him. CJ McCollum scored 21 off the bench for Atlanta and Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 20. The loss ended a four-game Hawks winning streak and dropped them to 7-5, per NBA.com. Rookie Cameron Carr scored his first career points on a two-handed dunk in transition in the first quarter.
What it means for Milwaukee
The road trip goes on Wednesday at Milwaukee, and the Lakers arrive in form. They have won six straight since a 112-95 loss at Golden State, scoring 125.7 points per game in that stretch while allowing 115.5. Over all 12 games they are averaging 122.1 points and giving up 114.4, a margin of nearly eight points a night. They are 5-1 on the road and 5-1 at home. Both losses came in the West, at the Warriors and at home to Portland, and the Lakers beat the Trail Blazers in the rematch.
Milwaukee is at the other end of the standings. Yahoo Sports reported that the Bucks were 1-9 going into Tuesday's game at New York, tied for the worst record in the league. That means Milwaukee plays the Lakers on the second night of a back-to-back, while Los Angeles gets a day off after Atlanta.
The main question for Wednesday is Reaves. If the illness keeps him out again, the Lakers will lean on the same group that beat Atlanta, with Doncic running the offense and Sexton and Mamukelashvili scoring off the bench. If he is back, a lineup that just scored 124 without him gets its second option back against one of the league's weakest teams so far.