ATLANTA — Down by 20 during the third quarter against the Atlanta Hawks, the only sound coming from the Lakers bench was Nick Smith Jr.’s hollow claps of encouragement. The rest of the Lakers players sat silently or loitered in a semicircle waiting for their coaches to join.
There wasn’t much that could be said.
The Lakers’ five-game winning streak ended in a blowout as the Hawks dominated 122-102 on Saturday at State Farm Arena.
Playing a third consecutive game without Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic tried to will the Lakers (7-3) to victory with 22 points, 11 assists and five rebounds, but played only 27 minutes after the Hawks built a 25-point lead by the middle of the third quarter.