Lou Williams leads Lakers to season sweep of Hawks, 109-94

Plus, the Lakers are not good on the road.

Davis had 41 points and 16 rebounds, helping New Orleans dominate the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 105-88 on Tuesday night. The Lakers’ key players are out, that is why the Pelicans will have the edge.

Over 22 minutes, that five-man grouping posted a net rating of 58.6 against Atlanta, meaning that the team outscored the Hawks at a rate that would have translated to a 58.6 point deficit over 100 possessions.

But it was the Lakers bench that Walton mainly attributed to the victory.

Hawks center Dwight Howard never expects a warm welcome when he returns to Los Angeles to face the Lakers.

Young has started all 18 games in which he has played this season. “They have been one of the best groups of five – starters or benches – all season long in the National Basketball Association”. And Walton brought up the 6-foot-11, 253-pound frame of New Orleans forward Anthony Davis, who has averaged 37.1 points on 51.9 percent shooting and 10.9 rebounds.

“It was real tough”, Clarkson said.

Walton is hopeful Randle will be able to rejoin the lineup sometime on the trip. Julius Randle (hip) iss questionable to play.

“It’s just figuring it out at this point”, said Bazemore, who made 8 of 16 field-goal attempts and 5 of 8 from behind the arc. “It’s still nothing that’s going to turn into a serious injury”. “I think that’s one of the important things”. He needs to take the game with speed and strength.

Having Russell on the bench might prove a benefit as well.

“I love that he’s continued to work every day and hasn’t played much”.

“The fact we are 9-9 now speaks to the effort we play with and the trust we have in each other”, Walton said. The guys on the team like him and he is vocal in the huddles.

It’s not a coincidence that it always seems to be the same guy carrying the Lakers down the stretch of close games.

Lou Williams led the team in scoring for the eighth time this season with 21 points, including 13 coming in the fourth quarter. As noted by Ball Don’t Lie, the Atlanta Hawks have been outscored by almost 10 points per 100 possessions during that hard stretch-on their way to the league’s worst offensive rating over the last six games.

On recent nights, Walton was again asked why he wouldn’t just take some of his best and most effective bench players and start them instead, but the 36-year-old coach refused to budge.

Nick Young scored 17 points as the Lakers swept their season series with Atlanta in a confident performance that featured 10 players getting significant minutes and eight players scoring at least seven points.

Nance showed everything he’s does to make the reserves so special this season, and after the game he credited his coach for empowering him to extend his game.