By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Los Angeles Lakers had a walk in the park on their home floor at the Crypto.com Arena after handing the visiting Atlanta Hawks a one-sided beating, 136-105, in the ongoing NBA regular season on March 19, 2024.
Los Angeles bagged the much-needed win after dropping their last two outings against the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings to stay on track for a late NBA playoff qualification.
With the win, the Lakers just improved their win-loss record to 37 wins and 32 losses and are now only two victories behind the eighth-seeded Phoenix Suns.
It was the Lakers that quickly dictated the pace of the game after establishing a 38-28 advantage after the first 12 minutes of action.
From that point, the Western Conference squad didn’t look back and played an inspired brand of basketball, winning the last three quarters with their high-octane offensive showcase.
D’Angelo Russell paced Los Angeles with 27 big points alongside 10 assists, four rebounds, and a steal. The crafty leftie guard did it in just 30 minutes of action and shot an efficient 8/14 from the field including 6/10 from the three-point line.
With his lights-out shooting performance, Russell just equalized the Lakers’ single-season record for three-pointers made, tying Nick Van Exel’s 183 tallied treys in the 1994-1995 NBA season.
Russell also passed the great Kobe Bryant who was behind Exel when he converted 180 three-pointers in the 2005-2006 NBA season.
LeBron James also flirted with a double-double performance of 25 points and 10 assists alongside seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, Anthony Davis’ healthy status was a good sign for the Lakers and dominated the shaded area with 22 points, 15 boards, six assists, two steals, and a block.
Los Angeles will now take a much-needed three-day rest before facing the banged-up Philadelphia 76ers on March 23, 2024.
