The Los Angeles Lakers now have the possibility of facing the Atlanta Hawks at home on Monday without either of their top two players, as they attempt to hold onto their precarious hold on one of the final play-in berths in the Western Conference.
Due to a corneal abrasion that caused him to leave Saturday’s 128-121 loss to the Golden State Warriors after just one quarter, Lakers forward Anthony Davis is rated as questionable for Monday’s game.LeBron James, another superstar, is once again marked as questionable due to persistent ankle inflammation. James has been added to the injury report on a regular basis as a precaution.
Since the All-Star break, Los Angeles has been playing well. A week ago, Anthony Davis stated that the Lakers (36-32) can defeat any team “if we play the right way.” At that moment, Davis had just had a 27-point, 25-rebound game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Lakers had won five of their previous seven games.
However, Los Angeles has since dropped its last three games, and after Davis left on Saturday, everything fell apart. After leading 36-30 after one quarter, the Lakers fell down by one point at the half and were outscored 35-27 in the third. Golden State possessed four”Our team’s balance is affected when AD leaves,” James remarked. “Now that we have a specific rotation and how we operate in it, our coaching staff has been quite good, so that makes a lot of improvements. You give them your due, Golden State. They performed incredibly well. It’s just difficult when you’re missing a significant piece of the jigsaw.
The Lakers held the final play-in tournament spot going into the game, even though they left the game in 10th place in the Western Conference rankings.
Along with the Lakers, who are the final play-in team in their conference, the Hawks (30-37) are also no strangers to injury concerns.Sunday’s 110-93 victory over the Clippers bolstered Atlanta’s postseason chances, even though Trae Young missed his 11th straight game due to finger surgery. Atlanta halted a three-game losing slide by leading by as much as 29 points and making 17 of 34 3-pointers.
Hawks head coach Quin Snyder stated, “I think our players said some things to each other, and I think they’re talking about the right things, which are things we need to do on defense.” We are attempting to maintain focus on completing those tasks. Furthermore, we are truly launching a group offensive. I was pleased with our performance.
On Sunday, Dejounte Murray led the Hawks in scoring with 21 points and 10 assists. With 20 points, De’Andre Hunter and JalenAfter missing Friday’s game against Utah due to sickness, Bogdan Bogdanovic made a comeback and scored 11 points against the Clippers. However, he left the game with 7:11 left and headed back to the locker room.
After playing the Lakers and the Phoenix Suns in the desert on Thursday, the Hawks have now dropped to 6-5 since Young’s injury. They now have a five-game homestand ahead of them.
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