James, Lakers start fast in racing past Hawks 122-101

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James scored 12 of his 33 points during a breathtaking opening nine minutes for the Los Angeles Lakers, who raced to a 25-point lead and handed the Atlanta Hawks their second ugly loss in 24 hours at Staples Center, 122-101 on Sunday night.

Kobe Bryant watched from courtside as his former team used suffocating defense to fuel an outburst that gave it a 34-9 lead.

In a quarter full of highlights, James’ biggest play provided his first points. After JaVale McGee blocked Jabari Parker’s shot, James grabbed the ball, passed to Danny Green and took the return pass for a slam dunk that brought the crowd to its feet two minutes in.

James added two layups, a 3-point shot and a three-point play to help propel the Lakers to their 25-point lead with 3:17 still to play in the opening quarter.

He also fed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for consecutive baskets. James finished with 12 assists for his 11th double-double this season.

The Hawks were routed 150-101 on Saturday night by the Clippers, who played without Kawhi Leonard.

Kyle Kuzma scored 17 points in the Lakers’ 11th win in 12 games. Rajon Rondo had 15, Anthony Davis 14, Caldwell-Pope 13 and Green and Alex Caruso 11 apiece.

Davis had five of the Lakers’ 14 blocked shots.

Trae Young scored 31 for the Hawks, who lost four of five on a swing through the West. Cam Reddish had 13 while Allen Crabbe, Parker and De’Andre Hunter each scored 11.

After falling behind by 25, the Hawks stopped the Lakers’ onslaught by going on a 13-0 run to close to 34-22. They got to 40-30 before the Lakers pulled away again. Green put an emphatic stamp on a 69-41 halftime lead when he swooped in to corral James’ missed shot for a slam dunk with 11 seconds before the buzzer.

James then hit consecutive 3-pointers for the Lakers’ first points of the second half and added a nice fallaway jumper.

AP