Kobe Bryant Scores 28, Leads Los Angeles Lakers To Second Win Of Season

Wins are hard to come by for the Los Angeles Lakers this year but they took their second victory of the 2014-2015 NBA Season with a 114-109 win over the Atlanta Hawks in a high-scoring affair on the road on Tuesday night. Kobe Bryant netted 28 points on a rare efficient 10-of-18 field goal shooting and added 4 rebounds and 3 assists for the Lakers, which improved to 2-9 for the season.

Devoid of scoring support for Bryant in most games this season, the Lakers got a nice boost from Nick Young, who missed the first 10 games of the season with a thumb injury. Off the bench, Young contributed 17 markers including 2-of-4 field goals from behind the arc. Other L.A. starters had great games as well as Jeremy Lin (15 points on 6/7 FGs and 10 assists), Carlos Boozer (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Jordan Hill (18 points and 10 rebounds) all had double-doubles for the evening.

Atlanta dropped their first game at home this season and to 5-5 overall. Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting and Jeff Teague added 23 points. Thabo Sefalosha contributed with 10 points and 9 rebounds. It was on defence where Atlanta struggled however, allowing the Lakers to shoot 54.0 per cent from the field (47/87 FGs). Los Angeles also out-rebounded the Hawks, 44-38.

The Hawks trailed big at halftime, 67-52 but fought back to make the game close. They outscored the Lakers in the next two quarters, 31-24 and 26-23 but just didn’t have enough to pull off the comeback victory. The Lakers other victory this season came at home against the Charlotte Hornets and they snapped a four-game skid with the Atlanta win. The Hawks suffered their second back-to-back losses of the season. They lost big to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 127-94 in their previous game.

Upcoming Schedule (Next 3 Games):

Los Angeles Lakers: at Houston Rockets, at Dallas Mavericks, vs. Denver Nuggets

Atlanta Hawks: vs. Detroit Pistons, at Washington Wizards, vs. Toronto Raptors