Sixty-five games into the 2014/15 season, the Atlanta Hawks have only lost 14 games. Surprisingly, the Los Angeles Lakers account for one of those 14 defeats.
Back on Nov. 18. 2014, Nick Young made his season debut and his energy, along with 17 points, helped the Lakers to a 114-109 victory. Kobe Bryant finished with 28 points on the night. For Sunday's meeting at Staples Center, neither Bryant nor Young will be available. Bryant is out for the season due to a shoulder injury, and Young will miss his 10th straight game with a sore left knee.
One player who performed well and is available for the Lakers is Jeremy Lin. Lin finished with 15 points and 10 assists in Atlanta in one of his positive early season outings. While those types of numbers were rare for the Lakers' point guard early in the season, he has been a starkly different player following the All-Star break.
In 11 games following the mid-season vacation, Lin is averaging 14.3 points, 5.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 27.2 minutes per game. On the season, Lin averages 10.9 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.6 rebounds in 25.8 minutes. Beyond simply staring at statistics, Lin has looked far more comfortable on the court lately.
"[Lin] was thinking so much back earlier in the season. Now, he's just playing," Lakers coach Byron Scott said at Sunday morning shootaround.
Scott also said he intends to move Lin back into the starting lineup for the final 10--possibly more--games to see how the player reacts to the role. For Sunday's game, though, the Lakers will stick with the same unit that started the previous game: Tarik Black, Jordan Hill, Wesley Johnson, Wayne Ellington and Jordan Clarkson.
While the Hawks may be the best team in the East and only have 14 losses on the season, Atlanta has lost two of its last four games. Not to be outdone, the Lakers have dropped six of their last seven games. Underdogs that they are, the Lakers have still managed to stay competitive during the losses with only the odd game featuring a lopsided scoreline.
LA tends to play up to the competition and so, Sunday's game could be far more competitive than most would traditionally expect from the second best team in the NBA facing the second worst team in the Western Conference.
The Lakers and Hawks tip-off at 6:30 p.m. at Staples Center.
