Atlanta Hawks vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 13/01/2024, 07:02  by Joseph King | Modified on 30/01/2024 at 07:58 in NBA Predictions

The Atlanta Hawks play host to the LA Lakers in this Eastern vs Western Conference battle. The Hawks have dropped to 11th in the East standings with a record of 19-27 putting them even with the 10th-placed Nets for the final play-in tournament spot. Atlanta was able to put and end to a four-game losing streak with a slim 126-125 win over Toronto on Sunday. They’ll now return to the State Farm Arena looking for their 10th home victory against a Lakers team with potentially fatigued legs. Atlanta could be without one of their star players in Dejounte Murray with the 27-year-old listed as questionable after missing out on the team’s win over the Raptors. What’s also interesting is that Murray may find himself playing for the opposition team in a few weeks with the former Spur linked to a move to the Purple and Gold. 

The Lakers come into this matchup off the back of a disappointing 135-119 defeat to the Houston Rockets on Monday night. LeBron and company put themselves in a hole early on as they allowed Houston to score 78 points in the first half. The defeat dropped LA’s record down to the .500 mark at 24-24 on the season, placing them ninth in the Western Conference. This now sees them trailing the eighth-placed Pelicans by 2.5 games and the sixth-place Suns by 3.5 games. The Lakers have looked almost like a completely different team when playing on the road compared to at home. They’ve managed just nine wins in 26 attempts on their travels while winning 19 of their 25 outings at the Crypto.com Arena. To make things even more difficult, the Lakers will be playing the second leg of a road back-to-back and their third game in the last four days.