Lakers and ageless LeBron James will play the Hawks back-to-back.
When the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, LeBron James' first consecutive back-to-back games since turning 40 will come to an end.
James should be able to handle the task just fine, based on Thursday's 114-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. He equaled Michael Jordan with 562 30-point performances in NBA history, scoring 38 points.
The fact that fellow star Anthony Davis was sidelined due to a sprained left ankle made James' situation even more difficult. Davis might return as early as Friday after twitching his ankle during a game against the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day.
Even though he was starting the first of two games in two days, James was aggressive right away.
LINESCORES
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATL | 28 | 29 | 29 | 16 | 102 |
| LAL | 31 | 34 | 31 | 23 | 119 |
| Team | PITP | FB PTS | BIG LD | BPTS | TREB | TOV | TTOV | POT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATL | 64 | 18 | 5 | 22 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 14 |
| LAL | 46 | 14 | 17 | 29 | 12 | 18 | 1 | 12 |
"You have a guy out who is averaging 25-plus points, with rebounds and blocks, A.D. is our No. 1, No. 2 option so when he's out, you have to go step up your game, including myself," James stated. "I think everybody pitched in on that end."
James made ten 3-pointers, which was his third-highest total of the season. A season-high seven of them were made by him.
"I like when he's a willing 3-point shooter," stated JJ Redick, the head coach of the Lakers. "... We want him aggressive (and) shot ready from three as much as we want him to get downhill and put pressure on the rim."
Max Christie filled the Davis hole as well, scoring a career-high 28 points and making five of his nine long-range tries. Austin Reaves, who has 15 points and 11 assists, is still getting used to his new offensive role.
Christie's strong defensive play in defending the Hawks' Trae Young will put him in the limelight once more on Friday. Young's scoring average of 22.3 points per game is the lowest since his rookie campaign in 2018–19, but he has outscored that mark in six of his last seven games.
Young just scored 30 points in Wednesday's 139-120 road defeat to the Denver Nuggets. De'Andre Hunter, who went 16 of 46 (34.8 percent) from 3-point range, contributed 20 points off the bench to help Atlanta snap its four-game winning streak.
Jalen Johnson (shoulder discomfort) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (leg contusion) were sidelined for the Hawks. Two double-figure scorers were sidelined by the injuries, but Atlanta missed Johnson most when it came to transition defense.
"You're always going to have players out," Hawks coach Quin Snyder reportedly stated, as reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Jalen is undoubtedly a talented player, but anyone could have executed a defensive transition with intensity. That was where we weren't urgent out of the gate."
Atlanta will play its third game of a six-game road trip on Friday. It is a repeat of the Los Angeles' 134-132 overtime triumph over Atlanta on December 6, in which Young recorded his second-highest game total of 31 points and 20 assists this season. James scored 39 points, dished out 11 assists, and pulled down 10 rebounds for a triple-double in the win.
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