Mouhamed Gueye and Zaccharie Risacher combined for 40 points to help the short-handed Atlanta Hawks take a 122-102 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.
Gueye scored a career-high 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting and Risacher scored 19, hitting 7 of 14, to set the pace early as the Hawks ended the Lakers’ five-game winning streak. It is the third straight year the Hawks have beaten the Lakers in Atlanta.
The Hawks were playing without four starters: Nickeil Alexander-Walker (lower back strain), Jalen Johnson (right quad contusion), Kristaps Porzingis (illness management) and Trae Young (right MCL sprain), as well as Luke Kennard (flu-like symptoms).
Atlanta had seven scorers in double figures, including rookie Asa Newell with a career-high 17 points and four steals and Vit Krejci also added 17 points. Dyson Daniels nearly notched a triple-double with 10 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists.
LA’s Luka Doncic, who came into the game averaging 40 points, scored 22 in the first half but did not score in the third quarter and did not play in the fourth quarter when the game got out of hand. Doncic had 11 assists and five rebounds with five turnovers.
Dalton Knecht added 14 and Jake LaRivia scored 13 for the Lakers.
The Lakers were again without Austin Reaves (right groin strain) and LeBron James, who remains out with sciatica. Maxi Kleber returned for the first time this season after recovering from an abdominal strain.
The Hawks jumped out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter and led 37-29. The Lakers made a run and cut the advantage to six points early in the second quarter before Atlanta built the lead to 15 points on four different occasions before ending the half with a 68-54 lead.
The Lakers trimmed the lead to 70-61 with 10:06 left in the third on a 3-pointer by Rui Hachimura, but Atlanta coach Quin Snyder called timeout and the Hawks responded with a 13-2 run that stretched the lead to 83-63 at 7:22.
Atlanta led by as many as 28 and took a 98-72 lead into the fourth quarter.
