The Lakeshow Review

“Making baskets motivates passing.” – JJ Redick, January 2026

Following an unprecedented thrashing at the hands of the Sacramento Kings last night, the Lakers took the court at Crypto to face the Atlanta Hawks. Riding a three game losing streak, the team was looking to make good on their “get right” game, after letting the opportunity slip yesterday. The energy was much improved tonight, as the offense got it going early and were able to sustain it for the rest of the contest. LA cruised to a comfortable 141-116 victory, looking like a completely different team when their offense is clicking. The vaunted four-game losing streak was successfully averted, but moving forward it’s important for the team to maintain consistency and effort in order to find a winning stride once again.

After a mediocre performance last night, LeBron James led the way with 31 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists, stuffing the stat sheet yet again against a lesser team, but still a very welcome sight. Luka also played a tremendous game, scoring 27 points, while collecting 12 assists. But more importantly, the team received a balanced collection of scoring from the starting group, with Jake LaRavia and Deandre Ayton each contributing 17 points, with the latter adding another 18 rebounds. Marcus Smart also bounced back, with 16 points, after being given the starting nod once again. Gabe Vincent added 10 points off the bench, while Rui Hachimura supplemented the reserve group with 7 points in his first game back from a calf strain. Good vibes all around, albeit against a mediocre foe, but at this stage, a win is a win.

The Lakers made a conscious effort to get out and run early. As a result, they created several easy opportunities in transition. For the game the Lakers finished with 23 fastbreak points, with most of them coming in the early stages as the team looked to set the pace. The enigmatic three-point ball also found its way back to the box score, as the Lakers made 19 of 34 three pointers good for 56%. No such self-induced handicaps for the team to overcome this time. Much of the hot shooting came by way of crisp ball movement, with players looking engaged and willing to make the extra pass. 36 team-assists was perhaps the highlight of the night, as it’s refreshing to see what this team is capable of doing when they’re locked in and playing for each other. As head coach JJ Redick remarked at halftime, “when the ball is going in, it motivates ball movement“.

Defensively, there were certainly some downers. Atlanta had their way with their screening action on offense, often placing guys like Dalton Knecht (who continues to disappoint following a two point outing) in precarious defensive positions, often leading to mistakes. The Hawks made every attempt to run on the Lakers, even after makes, which often created easy opportunities for themselves on offense. Nickeil Alexander-Walker led the Hawks with 26 points on 5-9 shooting from deep. Newly-acquired guard CJ McCollum also scored 25 points off the bench. Fortunately, the Hawks are a bad defensive team, and the Lakers had their way running on them as well, in particular, Deandre Ayton gave tremendous effort running the floor, something we don’t see from him often. Defensive closeouts and rotations continue to be an issue as well, as too many easy looks are surrendered because of guys missing a rotation, or a help responsibility. Hopefully these can be ironed out as the season moves along. Despite the occasional defensive warts, you can’t fault the level of effort and engagement from the team tonight.

As good as the team looked, and it was certainly a much needed win, this game really highlighted the duality of the 2025-26 Lakers. Against the Kings they looked abysmal, shooting 22% from deep and looking dishevelled. Tonight, they flipped the script, torching the Hawks from deep to the tune of 56%. They won’t shoot like this every game, but lately, they’ve been shooting more like they did against the Kings a day ago. They need to find a middle ground. They need to be at least an above average three point shooting team, in order to offset their defensive woes. It starts with much of what we saw tonight, which is clever offensive sets, sound ball movement, and simply a level of focus and tenacity that we’ve yet to see consistently from this team. Yesterday, LaRavia, Smart and Ayton combined to score all of three points. Tonight, they contributed 36 points. That’s huge, especially when Luka, LeBron and Ayton all have it going. When guys play to their billing, this team can get it going. As the season progresses, the Lakers will have to find greater consistency out of their role players in order to reach their ceiling. We already know what the stars can do, now it’s up the the rest of the pecking order to figure out how to make a dent, night in and night out. Hopefully we continue to see this type of effort, as the Lakers take on the Charlotte Hornets this Thurdsay in LA, before embarking on another lengthy road trip. At 24-14, and 5th place in the Western Conference, there’s still plenty of season to make a push and reclaim one of the top seeds. Hopefully they’ll capitalize on it. Go Lakers.