Who: Los Angeles Lakers (28-28) vs. Atlanta Hawks (18-28)
When: Tuesday, Feb. 12; 4:30 p.m. PST; State Farm Arena
Where: Spectrum SportsNet
The Lakers wrap up the unofficial first half of the season on Tuesday at Atlanta in a game that should be a fairly easy contest. After back-to-back brutal games that the team went 1-1 in against Boston and Philadelphia, the Lakers get a subpar Hawks team.
Shallow frontcourt
The Lakers could potentially be without both Mike Muscala and Tyson Chandler for tonight’s game. With Ivica Zubac no longer on the roster, that almost certainly spells either time for Moe Wagner or smallball lineups with LeBron James.
Both would provide the Lakers with more unorthodox, yet modern lineups with spacing and shooting. It could be a blessing in disguise as players like Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo thrive with more shooters and spacing. Wagner has played in spurts but against a non-contender like the Hawks, it could be a perfect time to get him minutes.
Bombs away
Atlanta is embracing modern basketball by chucking up tons of threes. The Hawks shoot the fifth-most three-pointers per game and shoot the third-most corner threes. As their record indicates, they aren’t great at connecting on those shots but when they do get hot, it can spell for a long night for opponents. The Lakers are middle-of-the-table in defending the three-point line but have had their fair share of poor performances defending the arc.
Closing strong
With the Clippers’ loss to Minnesota on Monday, the Kings are now ahead of the Clips on tiebreaker while the Lakers are two games back of both. The Spurs’ free fall has the Lakers just three games out of the seven seed as well.
A win to close the first half could prove huge as the Clippers’ weird rut of falling behind big before making a comeback makes them vulnerable to any team while the Kings have a game against the Nuggets prior to the All-Star break. There’s a not-all-unlikely scenario where the Lakers head into the All-Star break one game out of the playoffs.
