Warm Lakers Breeze Past Hawks at End

Shaq couldn’t do it and Riles couldn’t either, so the Atlanta Hawks tried a different approach Friday night when it was their turn to try to slow the Lakers.

The weather. The weather inside the Omni.

The Lakers shouldn’t have relied on a scouting report so much as a forecast, arriving to find an Arctic front under the roof and a steady breeze blowing down on their bench. Maybe out of survival more than a need for victory, they decided to supply the heat themselves before frostbite set in, rolling through the Hawks the final 14 1/2 minutes to claim a 102-89 victory before 16,378.

“No wonder people don’t come to games if it’s this cold all the time,” Laker Coach Del Harris said.

There’s always this reason: The Hawks, as usual unable to to shoot or defend anybody inside, were outscored, 10-0, over the final 2:29 of the third quarter and then got ripped in the fourth, 32-19.

It’s usually cold in the Omni--ice is under the court for the minor league hockey team--but not cold enough to consider making it a stop on the Iditarod. This night seemed even chillier than normal, so when the teams were a combined 39% in the first half, no one was surprised.

Even with 2:45 left in the third quarter, the Lakers, looking for a 3-0 start to the trip, still trailed by 10. They brushed the icicles off their eyebrows and went to work, getting six of the next 10 unanswered points from Anthony Peeler, who tied his season high with 25 points.

That 10-0 rally was worth a 70-70 tie heading into the final quarter. Then the Lakers left their hosts in the dust.

“The end of that third quarter, we had to put a stop to them,” Peeler said. “There’s no way we could continue to trade baskets like we were.”

Added Nick Van Exel: “We turned the defensive pressure up starting the last 2 1/2 minutes of the third quarter. That pretty much turned the game around.”

It took the Lakers all of about three minutes to pull away for good, the last of Peeler’s three three-pointers capping a 12-3 charge that gave them a 96-83 lead. They scored on 11 of their 12 possessions to open the fourth quarter.

“They were hitting three-pointers, spotting up and hitting other jumpers,” said Christian Laettner, who led the Hawks with 22 points and 10 rebounds. “We couldn’t stop them.”

Which is nothing new this week for Laker opponents, Miami having lasted into the fourth quarter before crumbling under the influence of Magic Johnson, this a day after Orlando was routed by 22. Solid guard play has been the constant.

It actually goes back even further than these last three games, starting with Eddie Jones getting 26 points, seven rebounds and three steals on March 19 against the SuperSonics. Van Exel had 26 on March 21 at Seattle, then Jones got another 18 against Charlotte on Sunday.

This six-game trip started with Van Exel scoring 22 in the easy victory over the Magic. Then he had 21 points at Miami, before managing only six against the Hawks on three-of-12 shooting. But he also had six assists without a turnover, extending his impressive run of only three turnovers the last five games, covering 166 minutes.

“As of late, I haven’t been looking to make the fancy pass,” he said. “I’m just trying to hit the open man more. That’s probably why my turnovers are down.”

Van Exel played only 25 minutes and Jones 20 against Atlanta as Harris stayed with the hot guards on this night for all of the decisive fourth quarter. Sedale Threatt, playing in his hometown, made a pair of three-pointers when the game was still in doubt, en route to eight points, while Peeler made four of five shots in the final quarter.

This was hardly a one-night stand, either. Threatt is shooting 60.6% overall the last 10 games, Peeler 47.6% on three-pointers the last five.

“You have to give a huge amount of credit to the bench tonight,” Harris said after the Lakers committed only six turnovers and got another near triple-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists from Johnson in 42 minutes. “Sedale and Peeler were magnificent, offensively and defensively.”

Probably just trying to stay warm.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Magic Marker / Tracking Magic Johnson’s comeback

FRIDAY’S GAME

*--*

Min. FG FT Pts. Reb. Ast. 42 6-17 (.353) 4-4 (1.000) 16 10 9 SEASON AVERAGES Min. FG% FT% Pts. Reb. Ast. 29.8 .491 .850 15.4 5.7 6.9 CAREER AVERAGES 36.9 .521 .848 19.7 7.3 11.4

*--*

*

Career averages before comeback

RECORD

LAKERS BEFORE MAGIC 24-18 (.571)

LAKERS WITH MAGIC 20-7 (.740)