The Los Angeles Lakers make it seven wins in a row after a hard-fought 101-96 win over the Atlanta Hawks
James poured in 32 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three, while Davis added 27 points and 13 rebounds, his 12th double-double of the season as the Lakers move to 14-1 on the road this season.
It came right down to the wire in Atlanta, as the Hawks had a chance to tie it with 9.7 seconds left, but Cam Reddish's three-point attempt was off. Danny Green grabbed the rebound and buried two free throws to give the Lakers a five-point lead to ice the win.
The Lakers are now tied with the Milwaukee Bucks for the best record in the league at 24-3.
James scored 17 of his 32 in the second quarter alone, churning out highlight after highlight as the Lakers took a 55-48 lead at the break.
None better than this between-the-legs dime to Dwight Howard for the emphatic jam.
The pass. The finish. The #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/m7H0hky7Q5
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 16, 2019
It was a far from polished performance from the Lakers who turned the ball over a season-high 22 times and shot just 5-of-31 from the three-point line, but the dominance of James and Davis proved to much for the Hawks, who now sit at 6-21 on the season.
James (4-of-10) was the only Laker to get it going from deep as his teammates combined to go 1-of-21 from three, with Rajon Rondo the only other Laker to connect from deep.
“We couldn’t throw a quarter in the ocean tonight and we were turning the ball over,” James said post-game.
“Versus a young team you can’t do that, you give them so many opportunities. Being resilient and relying on our defence, knowing that we can get stops in critical times, and just trying to execute on the other end.”
While James controlled the first half with 23 points, seven rebounds and one assist, Davis piled on the points in the second as James turned playmaker, recording six dimes in the second half.
Davis scored 17 of his 27 points in the second half as he and James became the first teammates in NBA history to each score 400+ points in their team's first 15 road games of a season.
In the @Lakers 15 road games:
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) December 16, 2019
LeBron James: 403 points
Anthony Davis: 401 points
LBJ and AD are the first teammates in @NBAHistory to each score 400+ points in their team's first 15 road games of a season. @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/qjir31OeS2
Trae Young led the Hawks with 30 points on 9-of-23 shooting, marking his 13th 30-point game of the season. Jabari Parker added 12 points on the night and Cam Reddish and Damian Jones chipped in 10 points apiece as the Hawks dropped their fourth game in a row.
The Lakers continue their five-game road trip in Indiana on Tuesday, while the Hawks travel to New York to take on the Knicks.