Franchise Opportunities in Atlanta, GA

The Hawks ventured into Crypto.com Arena late Friday night looking to build upon a close win over the Sacramento Kings two days earlier. Instead, they barely competed in a wire-to-wire victory for the home Los Angeles Lakers, 130-114.

It was soon clear after tipoff that the Hawks were a step too slow and lacked the execution needed to match their opponent. The Lakers began the game aggressively, capitalizing on turnovers and running in transition. In the first quarter alone, Los Angeles had 10 fastbreak points and five points off of turnovers. Even more alarming was the ease in which the Lakers were able to blow by defenders and find easy shots in the lane, leading to 22 first quarter points in the paint.

The lead ballooned to 26 at one point in the second quarter before settling at a halftime margin of 21 points. Despite some renewed fight in the second half from Atlanta, the visitors would never cut the lead to less than 10 and were comfortably dispatched down the stretch.

LeBron James led the charge for the Lakers, finishing with 25 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds. Thomas Bryant added a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Russell Westbrook also managed a near triple-double off the bench with 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

Despite missing Anthony Davis, the Lakers had plenty of firepower to attack Atlanta’s sluggish perimeter defense. They found easy passes leading to shots in the paint and around the three-point arc all game long. The Lakers came into the contest shooting just 33.7% from deep, good for just 26th and one spot higher than the Hawks, but buried 16-of-35 (46%) of their attempts on the night.

After a quiet first half, Trae Young got going in the second half in a big way. He had 21 of his 32 total points and six of his nine total assists in the second 24 minute period. Still, it was too little too late, and the late game period lacked any drama as to who would ultimately come away with the win.

Possessions like these were all too common an occurrence, with one pass finding an open Laker at the rim. Completely losing track of Juan Toscano-Anderson in transition just can’t happen.

“Yeah it’s tough,” said head coach Nate McMillan about the slow start. “When you get yourself into a hole like that. Give up 70 points in the first half. Basically they just dominated the paint. We didn’t do a good job of keeping the ball in front of us, stopping the ball, protecting the paint.”

“We had some open shots in that first half,” McMillan continued. “Those shots didn’t fall for us. You’ve got to get back and change ends and stop the transition. We didn’t do that. I thought we dropped our heads a couple of times.”

“I thought [the Lakers] were aggressive defensively,” McMillan noted additionally. “Getting into our guards with the pressure. And we didn’t have a lot of ball movement. We were trying to attack the pressure one on one. I think we only had eight assists in the first half. And we needed to set screens to release some of that pressure. But their guards did a good job.”

“First, I feel we just try to wipe the emotions and the feelings we get from taking the loss away,” said John Collins about how the Hawks bounce back from this loss. “We’re going to go back in there and analyze what we need to do. Really just be a stronger team in the paint. Be more together. Figure out a way to start games with that juice to kick start us a little bit. All of us together, whoever it may be. Just lock into the game plan.”

The loss drops the Hawks to 18-21. Atlanta will looks to quickly move past this disappointment and bounce back with a victory in the same arena Sunday night, where the Hawks meet the Los Angeles Clippers.

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LeBron leads Lakers past Hawks 130-114 for 4th straight win

LOS ANGELES (AP) LeBron James had 25 points and 10 assists in his return from an illness, Russell Westbrook added 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks 130-114 Friday night for their first four-game winning streak in just under a year.

Kendrick Nunn had 23 points in the highest-scoring performance of his tenure with the injury-depleted Lakers, who never trailed while beating the Hawks for the second time in eight days. Los Angeles won in Atlanta on Dec. 30 with James scoring 47 points on his 38th birthday.

The Lakers jumped to a 26-point lead in the first half of the rematch and hung on comfortably for their fifth win in six games overall. They hadn't won four straight since Jan. 7, 2022, when they also beat Atlanta in Los Angeles.

Thomas Bryant had 19 points and 13 rebounds for LA, while Dennis Schroder scored 21.

''There are going to be times where guys go down, unfortunately, and we have a group of guys that have just been preparing themselves for when it's their moment to play and play well,'' Westbrook said. ''Seems like we've been hitting a good stride of figuring that out.''

Trae Young scored 21 of his 32 points in the second half for the Hawks, who have lost five of six. Unable to overcome a dismal first half, Atlanta has lost two of three on its four-game California road trip.

''We didn't do a good job stopping the ball (or) protecting the paint,'' Atlanta coach Nate McMillan said. ''We had some fight in the second half, but just too deep of a hole.''

James returned to the Lakers' lineup after sitting out Wednesday's impressive victory over Miami with a bad cold, but Los Angeles played without Anthony Davis, Lonnie Walker, Troy Brown, Damian Jones and Austin Reaves, the newest addition to Los Angeles' long injury list with a strained left hamstring.

Coach Darvin Ham sees a bright side in Davis' latest lengthy injury absence for the healthy Lakers.

''It's motivating them to step their games up,'' Ham said. ''They know I'll put anybody out there, and if they're playing the right way, they'll play a significant amount of minutes.''

Reaves and Walker, who has left knee tendinitis, are both out for at least two more weeks, depriving the Lakers (18-21) of two key rotational players as they attempt to keep up their overall solid play since a 2-10 start. Los Angeles used its 21st starting lineup of the 39-game season against Atlanta.

''The Rubik's Cube was one of my favorite toys growing up,'' Ham said before the game. ''Coming in real handy right now.''

After putting up 37 points in their highest-scoring first quarter of the year, the Lakers opened a 26-point lead in the second. Their 21-point halftime lead was also their largest of the season.

Young scored 17 points in the third quarter.

TIP-INS

Hawks: McMillan got a technical foul while Atlanta trailed by 13 with 4:10 to play for arguing a foul called on John Collins. ... Clint Capela missed his sixth straight game with a right calf strain.

Lakers: Sterling Brown played three minutes for LA about nine hours after signing a 10-day contract with the Lakers. He played under Ham while both were with the Bucks from 2018-20. Brown is the younger brother of Shannon Brown, who won NBA titles with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010. ... Gail Goodrich was the honorary captain. The 79-year-old Los Angeles native and Hall of Famer played nine of his 14 NBA seasons with the Lakers.

UP NEXT

Hawks: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.

Lakers: At the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

As Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has locked up many of his top players for much of the next decade, he may have been motivated by his childhood years, when his beloved Expos weren’t able to keep many of their young stars long term.

“I saw a lot of players leave,” Anthopoulos said. “I know what it was like that our good young players were being traded away or that they couldn’t keep them. So I think there’s a small part of me that feels from a fan base, you can buy this guy’s jersey because he’s going to be here a while.”

Sorry to those of you holding Dansby Swanson or Freddie Freeman jerseys. As for those of you with Jake Odorizzi jerseys, I really don’t know what to say.

But seriously, it is remarkable what the Braves have done over the past year, and even farther back when both Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies signed extensions in 2019. Matt Olson was acquired from the A’s last March and received an eight-year deal a day later. Sean Murphy was acquired from Oakland on Dec. 12 and inked a six-year deal last week.

There is obvious risk. Had Mike Soroka been given an extension after his fantastic 2019 season, the Braves would currently be feeling remorse. But the potential benefits seem to outweigh the risks.

“We do like the fact that guys can just worry about going out and playing,” Anthopoulos said. “They don't have to worry about making a certain salary or getting certain statistics and so on, and that they know they're going to be here.”

Current eighth graders can project what the Braves’ lineup might look like when they are high school seniors.

Murphy (catcher), Olson (first base), Albies (second base), Austin Riley (third base), Michael Harris II (center field) and Acuña (right field) are all under control by the Braves through the 2027 season. So, too, is Spencer Strider, who is the only recent pitcher to gain an extension from Atlanta.

In today’s sports world, it’s crazy to think you could confidently project how 70 percent of a lineup might look five seasons from now.

Players under club control through 2027: Murphy, Harris, Strider, Olson, Acuña, Albies ($7M option in 2026 and '27) and Riley

Through 2028: Murphy, Harris, Strider, Olson, Acuña ($17M club option) and Riley

Through 2029: Murphy ($15M club option), Harris, Strider ($22M club option), Olson and Riley

Through 2030: Olson ($20M club option), Riley (guaranteed through 2032 with a $20M club option for '33)

Mark Bowman has covered the Braves for MLB.com since 2001.

Hello, Falcoholics, and welcome to the results from our Week 18 Reacts survey. Earlier this week, we asked you two questions: How confident are you in the general direction of the Atlanta Falcons, and how would you grade rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder’s first three starts?

Winning is good for the soul, and it’s also good for fan confidence, which spiked up this week. Of the Falcons fans who responded to our survey, 84 percent are confident that Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot have this team headed in the right direction.

One of the biggest questions for the team right now is around the quarterback position, and Falcons fans give rookie Desmond Ridder a B grade after his first three NFL starts.

Forty-one percent of fans give Ridder a C, with just four percent of fans giving him an a, four percent giving him a D, and mercifully, zero percent grading his performance with an F. I think we can split the difference here and give him a grade somewhere in the realm of a B-/C+.

Let’s see what fans had to say about why they graded Ridder’s first three starts the way they did:

From CombatFalcoholic:

Grading him based on the grades of a solid NFL QB, means he got a solid C+ from me. Meaning, he didn’t fail, and could pass as a QB, but has plenty of room for improvement. Game by game grades would tell a more complete story for Ridder:

Game 1: D-Game 2: D+Game 3: C+

It’s his trajectory that counts really.

The trajectory does count, and CombatFalcoholic’s week-by-week grades suggest improvement each week, which is exactly what you want to see from a rookie.

From FalconFaninMaine:

I graded him based on what we should expect from a rookie’s first 4 starts. I mean, we can’t grade him compared to a seasoned, successful veteran, nor can we grade him against a QB who is loaded with offensive weapons.

Outside of CP, Ridder’s two best supporting players on the field are also rookies (Allgeier and London). It’s difficult to grade him.

He hasn’t thrown any TDs but hasn’t thrown any picks either. He seems to really settle in as the game progresses. He is smart, poised, in control, throws with confidence, scrambles/escapes the pocket pretty well.

For those reasons, he gets a B from me. A couple of TD passes would earn him an A. A couple of picks would drop him to a C. But he’s not close to a D or F.

I like the mention of Ridder’s poise from FalconFaninMaine, because that’s really stood out to me too, and it’s something that’s not necessarily common from rookies.

From OtisCampbellFanClub:

I would give him a C+, maybe even a B- for the following reasons:

He’s done what the coaches asked of him and ran the plays/game how the coaches wanted him to run it. They’re not asking him to win it with his arm, regardless of his college play.

Game speed is another level and he appears to be getting comfortable with that game to game.

Physically, he looks sooooo skinny, ala Robert Griffin, and that worries me, but he seems to have good pocket awareness and protects himself when scrambling ... so far. Hard to tell if he has a cannon for an arm at this point ... as well as the “gunslinger” attitude.

OtisCampbellFanClub’s grades are right in there with where most Falcons fans graded Ridder, and he’s right, Ridder’s doing what the coaches are asking him to do, and adjusting to the game speed is huge for rookies. It’s nice to see Ridder coming along in that regard, especially after being on the sidelines for most of the season.

From Crappy Poster:

I really can’t grade Ridder because I don’t think the coaching staff has put him in a position to be too successful. I have rarely seen him throw a pass more than 10 yards, if at all. Because of how the falcons run the ball, he is constantly put in downs where the defense knows he is going to throw.

He seems to be on point with his throws. And I have more confidence watching him than I did Mariota. I can’t really say much more than that. Given his legs, I hope AS and staff will be tweaking the offense in 23 to cater to Ridder’s strengths.

That’s a very thoughtful comment from a guy going by the name of Crappy Poster. I do think — assuming the team does move forward with Ridder as the starter in 2023 — that we’ll see an offense that’s more tailored to his strengths. Plus, getting Kyle Pitts back should make a difference, and I’d assume the team would try to add some more wide receiver talent this offseason.

Do you agree? Disagree? We want to hear what you think — sound off in the comments!

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Thankfully, the Atlanta Braves broke their recent trend of not doing, well, much of anything of late yesterday. We are certainly thankful because there are only so many ways to say “the Braves were quiet yesterday”, although we will still probably have to figure out some new ways.

Getting to the move, the Braves traditionally do a really good job of bringing guys into big league camp on invites that are at least interesting with some real upside. The vast majority of them either end up not working out at all or make their way to the Braves’ minor league system, but every once in a while, a player gives the team some help at the big leagues. The Braves signed reliever Yacksel Rios to a minor league deal on Friday with that goal in mind. Rios has some good stuff and has pitched well in winter ball, although it doesn’t seem like he has much in the way of command.

More Braves News

We didn’t have anything else for you all yesterday on the Braves side, but that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t good content to be had. For example, the great Mark Bowman had a nice breakdown of how and why the Braves have been able to lock up so much of their young core for the foreseeable future in his newsletter.

Our friends over at Battery Power also had a fun write-up on how Ozzie Albies could bounce back in a big way in 2023. If Ozzie has a big season next year, this lineup could be really, really fun to watch (they are already going to be quite good barring a catastrophe).

MLB News

Trevor Bauer is already staring down a lengthy suspension from Major League Baseball and now it looks like if he plays in the big leagues again, it won’t be with the Dodgers. The Dodgers announced yesterday (the deadline to make their decision) that they were going to part ways with the controversial and baggage-laden pitcher.

One of these days, Carlos Correa will actually sign a contract, but this whole situation with his medicals and how they have messed up multiple mega-money deals for him has been wild. The Mets appear to be getting very frustrated with the current state of their negotiations with Correa and may end up walking away from a deal with him altogether. The talks are not dead yet, but it sure doesn’t sound like they are going well.