The No. 2 Lakers bring a 9-2 record and the league’s top power-index position into a road test against Atlanta.
Monday’s matchup pits the 9-2 Lakers, No. 2 in the power index, against a 7-4 Hawks team ranked 13th, with Atlanta looking to make its 3-2 home record count against an elite opponent. Los Angeles averages 121.9 points and allows 114.5, while Atlanta scores 118.6 and gives up 115.5. With Luka Doncic listed out, Austin Reaves’ 278 points and 51 assists in 11 games put the playmaking burden squarely on him; Hawks scorer Nickeil Alexander-Walker has 243 points in 11 games. Atlanta must disrupt Reaves and sustain its scoring against a Lakers team playing the second night of a back-to-back after Sunday’s game in Detroit.