On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers tried to bounce back from their recent loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. This time around, it seemed like a much more winnable game on the road against the Atlanta Hawks. However, rookie Trae Young and his teammates came to play, and he even had a few embarrassing plays on LeBron James. With head coach Luke Walton on the hot seat in LA, another loss arrived by a final of 117-113 in Atlanta. LeBron played hard once again and after the defeat spoke about what might be going wrong with the team.
Lakers drop a second-straight game
On Sunday, there were headlines from the Lakers-Sixers game including Ben Simmons' girlfriend gazing at LeBron. The biggest story seemed to be that the Lakers fell by 23 points as the Sixers won 143-120 on their home court. It was a display of Philly's excellence since making a blockbuster trade to another star to their starting five with Tobias Harris.
Tuesday night provided the Lakers another road game, but a team with a losing record. Still, the 18-38 Hawks are a deceiving bunch as they might look bad on paper, but their young stars Trae Young and John Collins can propel them to a win at random times. Young finished with 22 points and 14 assists to lead his team to the 117-113 win.
That included several highlights and they were at the expense of King James.
big time play rook. pic.twitter.com/wMDwWlO82g
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 13, 2019
Collins also contributed 22 points in the win as well as eight rebounds, while Taurean Prince had 17 points and six boards. Vince Carter, Alex Len, and Duane Dedmon all finished in double-digits as well to help the Hawks defeat the LA Lakers.
LeBron reacts after another loss
LeBron James was a bright spot in the latest effort as he tried to will the Lakers to a comeback win. James finished with a triple-double of 28 points, 16 assists, and 11 rebounds. The NBA star also had three steals and a block to fill up the stat line.
That moved LeBron into a tie for fifth place with Wilt Chamberlain on the all-time list of triple-doubles.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as the Lakers dropped their second game out of the last three. Their most recent win was a buzzer-beater against the Boston Celtics which now seems like it was ages ago.
"KOBE'S BETTER!"
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 13, 2019
Hawks fans let LeBron hear it at the free throw line 👀 pic.twitter.com/I6rD5tsfAT
As seen above, LeBron James was the subject of fan heckling chants which included "Kobe's better" while he was at the free throw line. In fairness, it's LeBron's first season as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, but expectations are still high for the NBA star.
After the four-point defeat by the Hawks, LeBron spoke about what went wrong down the stretch in the Lakers' loss at Atlanta.
LeBron said, "We didn't have consistent play for all facets of the game, offensively and defensively." He noted that with the All-Star break they'll need to "decompress and get a lot from the game, those guys will have a lot more time than I will."
He mentioned he'll stress the importance to the younger guys who haven't made the playoffs that each and every game they play is important, no matter where. One reporter asked if it's possible some of the younger guys didn't have focus in tonight's game due to the All-Star break coming up. LeBron replied, "That's a possibility."
.@KingJames on the #Lakers inconsistencies on offense & defense and the importance of every game. pic.twitter.com/2wVFtk0Op1
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 13, 2019
The Los Angeles Lakers will get a bit of a break now.
LeBron is headed to the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday as the captain of Team LeBron. However, his team doesn't have a game again until Feb. 21 as they'll host James Harden and the Houston Rockets. That should give them time to refresh and get ready for the second part of their season as they push for the playoffs.