Trying to stop a bad trend against the Hawks

The busiest part of their schedule this season, four road games in five days, is behind them, but the Lakers aren’t out of the clear.

The hapless Atlanta Hawks await.

Not only have the Lakers had trouble with losing teams this season, they’ve had problems with Atlanta the last six seasons. The Lakers have won three championships this decade and the Hawks haven’t even won a playoff game over the same span, but the Lakers somehow haven’t won the season series since 1999-2000, splitting two games every time.

The key to finally earning a sweep of the Hawks -- the Lakers beat them in December, 106-95 -- would be “some tenacity on the defensive end,” forward Lamar Odom said.

“When we think defense first, triangle second, I think that’s when we’re tough,” he said. “When we come out and kind of depend on our offensive skills to win basketball games, that’s when you’ll see us kind of slack a little bit.”

The Lakers were good at both ends Saturday against Washington, holding the league’s second-highest-scoring offense 5.1 points below its season average in a 118-102 romp.

“I guess we showed the high-level basketball that we’re able to play,” Odom said. “That’s why we beat teams like San Antonio, teams with good records.”

*

The unpredictable season of Vladimir Radmanovic continues.

His last five games have been some of his most active, with averages of 13.4 points and 5.7 rebounds in 31.6 minutes. He’s also shooting 54.3% overall and 40% from three-point range.

Labeled a “space cadet” by Coach Phil Jackson two months ago for straying too often from the offense, Radmanovic thinks he knows why he’s playing better.

“Want me to be honest with you? I feed off of bigger minutes, just having an opportunity to be out there more,” he said. “It gives me more of a chance to do something good than when you play 10 or 15 minutes.”

In the first season of a five-year, $30.2-million contract, Radmanovic is liked by teammates and has a quick wit, but his struggles have been documented since the season began. Despite the recent uptick, he is averaging only seven points a game, 3.1 below his career average coming into the season.

He said he “never had a problem” with Jackson’s comments and hoped to continue along his recent road.

“I had my hand injury at the beginning of training camp, and things went downhill for me in the beginning,” he said. “It was pretty hard to get out of the slump I was in. Now I’m just trying to forget about everything and trying to be consistent. That’s my biggest problem. I have a few good games where I play well and then I disappear.”

Jackson is watching, intently. There are times Radmanovic is prone to “just casting up a shot because it just might feel good,” but there has been improvement, Jackson said.

“He has his moments out there where he does the things that he does very well,” Jackson said.

TONIGHT

at Atlanta, 4 PST, (delayed, 5:30, Ch. 9)

Site -- Philips Arena.

Radio -- 570, 1330.

Records -- Lakers 29-19, Hawks 18-28.

Record vs. Hawks -- 1-0.

Update -- The Hawks have won five of their last seven games, including a 101-99 overtime victory Sunday at New Jersey.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com