LA Lakers (24-21) at Atlanta (9-37) "Even Los Angeles' interim coach admits that the Lakers could use Phil Jackson right now. One day after a tough loss, the Lakers try for their first win since Rudy Tomjanovich's sudden resignation as they visit the struggling Atlanta Hawks. Tomjanovich resigned as coach of the Lakers on Wednesday citing health reasons. Jackson's name has been mentioned as a possible replacement, and interim coach Frank Hamblen said Thursday that he would be eager for Jackson to return. Hamblen, a 57-year-old career assistant who won five championships with the Chicago Bulls and the Lakers under Jackson, reiterated that sentiment before Los Angeles' 103-102 loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday. Jackson won three consecutive championships as coach of the Lakers. Lamar Odom scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, but the Lakers lost on Yao Ming's free throws with 15.2 seconds left. Forward Brian Cook missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds to play as the Lakers opened a five-game road trip." Starting 5 Lakers PG- Chucky Atkins SG- Caron Butler SF- Jumaine Jones PF- Lamar Odom C- Chris Mihm Hawks PG- Tony Delk SG- Josh Childress SF- Al Harrington PF- Antoine Walker C- Predrag Drobnjak This thread is for discussing about the game and pre-game analysis. I believe Odom will be huge for us this game going for 34 points and 11 rebounds and the Lakers will take this one 101- 92.
This is a must win game for the Lakers as far as I'm concerned. If the Lakers are serious about making the playoffs they have to beat the weaker teams in the league, especially from the East. The Hawks are the worst team in the East and have some key injuries and problems with team chemistry. The Lakers need to put this team away early and establish a double digit lead. The last few games, the Lakers have been playing comeback ball, and the last thing you want to give the Hawks is confidence in them actually winning. Odom needs to stay out of foul trouble, and he will have his hands full with Antoine Walker. The Hawks give Walker a lot of touches in the game, so Lamar needs to play straight up against him and not get reach in fouls. The Lakers have had problems playing down to the level of their competition, so hopefully Hamblen can get them focused in this game after an emotional loss to the Rockets. I expect Caron Butler to explode for 30 in this game. The last two games he's only taken 20 shots and made it to the free throw line 6 times. Caron is at his best when he's attacking the rim and drawing fouls. He's automatic from the line and I expect him to be relentless tonight because the Hawks have no interior defenders. I predict the Lakers win by 15 ....107-92.
This is really a must win, and an easy win. We should be able to win this. We are coming off of a heart-wrenching loss to the Rockets, we should come out with some fire in our eyes tonight to win. I take L.A. 102-89. BTW, thanks for making this, I am not in a preview making mood today, so tired from the Super Bowl.
I think this one is definitely an easy win and one we should get just by showing up. We do need to show up, though. No slacking off and we'll get a 17 point win, 105 - 88.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kobe 8 Ball:</div><div class="quote_post">This is really a must win, and an easy win. We should be able to win this. We are coming off of a heart-wrenching loss to the Rockets, we should come out with some fire in our eyes tonight to win. I take L.A. 102-89. BTW, thanks for making this, I am not in a preview making mood today, so tired from the Super Bowl.</div> No problem man just trying to help.
Wow..this is FUGLY. 41-15. The Hawks are hitting everything they throw up, while Mihm is once again in foul trouble, whats new? He doesn't show up for road games...pathetic. Caron is also in foul trouble, he has been playing great ball as of late, I hope he can turn it on in the second half. Ugh, lets just hope the Hawks cool down, this is getting disgustingly out of hand...
ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!! Didn't I say that we needed to show up? Why don't they just cut their losses and forfeit!?
Awful! We lost to the Hawks? We had to come back from a 28 point deficit just to avoid having garbage time against the worst team in the league? When is Kobe coming back!
I can't believe this man im trying to be optimistic but its very hard when they lose to the hawks and, Tierre was one of the top scorers.
Ugh, this is why we need Kobe. All the people who said we are better with Kobe should be eating every single one of their words right now. That was disgusting, Tierre had a great game..if he could only play like that every game...
This is a good time to figure out who was on the bandwagon, and who is a loyal fan like me. This is a cruching loss i didnt see it and i'm glad i didnt, i had practice
This is what happens when you destroy your dynasty to rebuild. Two things: 1) You gotta give credit to the Hawks for playing a good game. If they play like their usual selves then this is an easy Laker W. 2) You gotta blame the Laker defense for allowing 114pts on 50% shooting to a team that averages 89ppg on 43% shooting. Ok so we didn't play defense tonight and decided we wanted to win with our offense. First thing I noticed is that LO misses 8 FTs in a game lost by 6 pts; you gotta make your FTs if they're gonna take you to the line that many times. Second thing is that Chucky Atkins had 20 FGAs and made 8. Had he made some better shot selections we could've gotten that W. Anyways as a true Laker fan we just have to ride these tough times. We're in a rebuilding process so we shouldn't expect much despite tonight's loss.
You don't lose to the freaking Hawks, rebuilding or not. The Lakers looked tired out there and it cost them. They didn't hustle for most of the game and their shots were rushed. The loss was completely on them. Oh where of where has our Ko-be gone, oh where oh where could he be?!
Yes I know, "you don't lose to the Hawks", it's written in the NBA Bible. But this was just a bad night that whatever can go wrong will/did go wrong. The Lakers were on the recieving end unfortunately.
It wasn't just one of those freak games where every one of their shots goes in and our shots rim out. We played poorly on both sides of the court up until the end of the game (how many late game runs resulting in a loss do we have to endure?). Hawks are a really bad team with two or three of their impact players injured. When you ALLOW them to have multiple 30 point quarters...you need to re-evaluate your dedication to defense.
Geez, Lamar shot worse than Antwan Walker on the FT line. Or maybe a little better, which isn't saying much
