Lakers finish road trip vs. Hawks

Basketball Betting Lines

03/31/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Lakers make the final stop on a challenging week-long road trip this evening, when the reigning NBA champions head to Philips Arena to face a test from the formidable Atlanta Hawks.

Los Angeles has alternated wins and losses over the first four matchups of this five-game trek and followed up Saturday's 109-101 victory at Houston with a 108-100 defeat to the desperate New Orleans Hornets on Monday. The Lakers fell despite a 31-point effort out of Kobe Bryant and a 26-point, 22-rebound performance from Pau Gasol.

The Lakers trailed 50-42 at intermission but chipped away at the deficit in the second half, with Bryant's jumper near the midway point of the third quarter bringing the club within 58-56. New Orleans responded with a 19-7 run to close out the period, however, and held off a late charge down the stretch.

"We got some good looks offensively, most of the time we would knock those down, but tonight they didn't really fall," said Gasol afterward. "They shot the ball a lot better than we did."

Despite its so-so play on this swing, the Lakers are closing in on securing the No. 1 seed for the upcoming Western Conference playoffs for a third year in a row. Los Angeles enters tonight's action five games ahead of second-place Dallas with only eight remaining in the regular season.

The Lakers, who will be without regular center Andrew Bynum (15.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg) for a sixth straight contest due to an Achilles injury, draw a tough task tonight from a Hawks squad that owns one of the league's best home records. Atlanta is a sensational 30-7 at Philips Arena this season and posted its eighth straight win as the host with Sunday's 94-84 decision over Indiana.

The Hawks fell behind by a 31-26 count after one period but fought back to take the lead with a strong third quarter. Atlanta outscored the Pacers 24-13 during the frame and moved ahead for good with a 9-0 run that snapped a 61-61 deadlock.

Al Horford poured in 12 of his 18 points during the pivotal quarter and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Hawks, who received team-bests of 21 points and 13 boards from Josh Smith. Super-sub Jamal Crawford contributed 17 points and six assists to the winning effort.

Atlanta held Indiana to shoot just 40.7 percent for the game, including a mediocre 8-of-26 from three-point range.

"After the first quarter I thought we were playing hard basketball, capitalizing on our fast-break points and getting good defensive stops," said guard Joe Johnson, who finished with 14 points.

The Hawks, now tied with Boston for the third-best record in the Eastern Conference, will be vying to win nine in a row at home for the first time since a 20-game streak between November 12, 1996-February 12, 1997. They've also prevailed in each of their last two encounters with the Lakers held at Philips Arena.

Los Angeles did register a 118-110 triumph over Atlanta at the Staples Center back on November 1 behind a 41-point outburst from Bryant.

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