Instant Takeaways From The Atlanta Hawks Blowout Loss to the Lakers

The Hawks three game winning streak came to an end tonight at the hands of LeBron James and the Lakers

Jan 13, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard CJ McCollum (3) shoots the ball over Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt (2) during the first quarter at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

And just like that, the Atlanta Hawks three game winning streak is over.

The Lakers jumped out to a big lead, leading by as many 32 in this game, but the Hawks did battle back in the third quarter with a nice run and with 8:58 left in the game, Atlanta had cut it to 11. It did not matter though as the Hawks defense got torched by the duo of LeBron James and Luka Doncic, leading to a big win for the Lakers and a disappointing loss for the Hawks, who had been playing well heading into this game.

1. Awful Second Quarter

The second quarter was about as bad as it gets if you are the Atlanta Hawks.

The Lakers outscored the Hawks 44-30 in the second quarter and blew the game open in the first half. Los Angeles, who came into the game 30th in three-point percentage, was 6-9 from deep, including a 3-3 mark from Luka Doncic.

On the other end, the Hawks were 2-8 from three and could not find any offensive rhythm outside of CJ McCollum, who had 11 points in the quarter. After a stellar defensive performance against the Warriors, the Hawks came out in the worst way imaginable against the Lakers, allowing them to score 81 points in the first half, the most they had scored in a half all year up to this point.

2. The Defense was the big problem

I am not going to say that the Hawks offense was great in this game, but the defense was very disappointing. The Lakers were playing on the second night of a back-to-back (James first of the year), Austin Reaves was still out, and the Lakers are not one of the NBA's best three point shooting teams.

It did not matter though as the Lakers ended up shooting 58% from the field and 19-34 from three. Jake LaRavia, Gabe Vincent, and Luka Doncic combined for 11 of those threes.

The Hawks defense had been playing well, but this was certainly a step back.

3. Night to forget for Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu

In a game you lose by 25 points, it is hard to say that many players played well, but Johnson and Okongwu did not play well tonight.

Okongwu struggled with foul trouble and was just 3-8 from the field, scoring seven points, grabbing eight rebounds, and handing out four assists.

Johnson finished with 13 points, but shot 5-17 from the field and missed several shots at the rim. He had little to no impact on the game and that can't happen in games like this if you are the team's best player.

Atlanta wraps up their road trip on Thursday night against Portland.