Two playoff hopefuls start 2025 together on Friday night, with the Atlanta Hawks rolling down Figueroa St. to face the Los Angeles Lakers. Both sides enter at seventh place in their respective conferences.
Coolest matchup: The Hawks run with the third-fastest pace in the league. The Lakers, led by Anthony Davis roaming around the paint and LeBron James as a 40-year-old, are one of basketball's slower teams, making for an interesting Friday night-style clash. Atlanta thrives on the fast break and slings the ball around, while LA has the seventh-worst transition defense in the league, per Synergy.
New Year's resolutions: Atlanta, keep trusting your intuition! This team developed a slow-blooming star in Jalen Johnson, completely nailed the Dyson Daniels acquisition and unlocked the best version of De'Andre Hunter off the bench. Let's hope they're patient with Zaccharie Risacher, and let's see if they'll make any deadline moves. As for the Lakers, well, resolve to appreciate life's ephemeral nature. The NBA's all-time leading scorer wears your jersey, and he's still capable of doing remarkably cool stuff in it.
John Hollinger on the Hawks: "After two seasons of watching Young and Dejounte Murray play your-turn, my-turn with the offense -- while nobody took turns on defense -- Hawks games look very different this year. Atlanta is in the midst of perhaps its most enjoyable stretch of basketball since the 2021 run to the Eastern Conference finals."
Jared Weiss on Dyson Daniels: "The elasticity that makes Daniels nearly impossible to shake out of an action has allowed the Hawks to execute more pick-and-roll coverages than in years past. His ballhawking has revived Clint Capela's ability to effectively contain the ball in drop coverage. And he's covered up Trae Young's size deficiencies when the latter executes a hard show before retreating to his man."
Jovan Buha on the Lakers: "J.J. Redick said that he plans on sticking with the current starting lineup of Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Max Christie and Austin Reaves for the foreseeable future. Redick said he already spoke with Dorian Finney-Smith, who has been a full-time starter for nearly five straight seasons, about coming off the bench and what the Lakers believe he can provide. Redick noted that the starting lineup remains fluid long term and that he'll continue to evaluate the group."
Starting five of players to wear each jersey (minimum 50 games with each franchise):