Lakers star Anthony Davis, left, shoots as Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu defends during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James handles the ball during the first half of their game against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James, left, shoots as the Atlanta Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanović, center, and Trae Young defend during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, right, shoots as Lakers center Jaxson Hayes defends during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James, left, passes the ball as Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, second from left, guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, second from right, and forward Onyeka Okongwu defend during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star Anthony Davis, right, shoots as Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu defends during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James receives the ball during the first half of their game against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu, right, shoots as Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith defends during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James, right, shoots as Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels defends during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, right, gestures after scoring during the first half of their game against the Lakers on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James handles the ball during the first half of their game against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star Anthony Davis, left, blocks a shot by Atlanta Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James, right, shoots as Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels defends during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, right, jaws at Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, center, as Young complains to a referee during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, center, jaws at Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, second from right, as Young complains to a referee during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, left, and Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith reach for a loose ball during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu, right, shoots as Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith defends during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers forward LeBron James, right, shoots as Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu defends during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith, center, shoots as Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu, right, defends during the second half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James gestures during the second half of their game against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers guard Bronny James, center, shoots as Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher defends during the second half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James, left, shoots as Atlanta Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter defends during the second half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James waits for a rebound during the second half of their game against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers rookie guard Dalton Knecht, right, shoots as Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson defends during the second half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James shoots as Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, right, defends during the second half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James, center, argues with a referee as members of the Laker Girls dance during a timeout in the second half of their game against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James, right, shoots as Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu defends during the second half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers guard Max Christie, left, dunks over Atlanta Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter during the second half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James, second from left, shoots as Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu defends during the second half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. With that shot, James surpassed Michael Jordan for the most career 30-point regular-season games in NBA history. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James, left, celebrates with guard Austin Reaves after scoring his 30th point of the game during the second half of their game against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers star LeBron James, left, shoots as Atlanta Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter defends during the second half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Actor Will Ferrell watches from a courtside seat Lakers star LeBron James handles the ball during the first half of a game between the Lakers and the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Lakers star Anthony Davis, left, shoots as Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu defends during the first half on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach JJ Redick acknowledged the seesaw his team has been on when it comes to strong performances on either end of the court.
To start the season, it was the offense carrying the team to success. And then from late November through late December, it was the defense either keeping the Lakers in games or fueling victories.
And lately, it’s been the Lakers’ offense that has picked back up, with the defense taking a step back.
But Redick on Friday made it clear that he maintains his belief that this team can be good on both ends of the court at the same time – and the Lakers rewarded him with one of their most balanced victories of the season, beating the Atlanta Hawks, 119-102, for their seventh win in the past nine games.
LeBron James led the Lakers (20-14) with 30 points (13-of-20 shooting, 2 for 5 from 3-point range), eight assists and three rebounds. Friday was James’ second consecutive 30-point game, and fourth in his last six games, after he scored 38 in Thursday’s victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
With an 18-foot fadeaway jumper over De’Andre Hunter that gave the Lakers a 109-96 lead, James recorded his 563th career 30-point game, breaking his tie with Michael Jordan (562) to become the NBA’s career leader.
“It’s never been a goal of mine but it’s very humbling,” James said. “And anytime I’m mentioned with any of the greats, and arguably one of the – the greatest to ever to play the game, it’s super cool. It’s someone I idolized in my childhood and I wear 23 because of him. So, to know that I can sit here and be in the room or in the conversation or whatever it is, when you mention MJ, it’s just super-duper dope for me, being a kid from where I’m from.”
Austin Reaves added 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists, with the fourth-year guard continuing to stuff the stat since becoming the team’s primary ball handler.
But he also shot 6 for 18 from the field and had six turnovers, continuing his trend of struggling with ball security.
“I’m gonna go through growing pains of having this usage, having this responsibility,” Reaves said. “I’ve had it in the past, but not for the length of time that I’m gonna have it now.”
Anthony Davis had 18 points, 19 rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocked shots after sitting out Thursday night to rest his sprained left ankle. Rui Hachimura and Dalton Knecht each scored 13 points.
“I don’t think we want to make a sort of bet-everything-on-red-type gamble with both roster construction or philosophy around offense versus defense,” Redick said. “You need two-way players. You need guys that are willing to compete on both ends and play intelligent basketball on both ends. They’re hard to find. Our group is trending in that direction of being a good offensive team and a good defensive team. I like where our defense is at right now. Both sides of the ball right now are trending to be a great team.
“Generally speaking, you need to be pretty good at both. Obviously, if you’re elite at one, you can get away with being average [at the other], but very rarely can you get away with being [expletive] at one. So we’re constantly striving to be better on both ends of the ball.”
Trae Young had 33 points and nine assists for the Hawks (18-17), who lost their second straight. Jalen Johnson added 19 points and eight rebounds.
Redick criticized his team’s first-half game plan discipline before only allowing 45 points in the second half after allowing 57 in the first.
“It was so bad,” he said. “And I thought our guys, they played offensively with the right intent. Another night where we got close to 30 assists. Defensively, Trae Young, he bends you in ways. He’s a fantastic offensive player. But I thought our defense overall in the second half was much better.”
NOTES
Jordan set the 30-point game record in 1,072 games over 15 seasons, while James broke the mark in his 1,523rd appearance over 22 seasons. … James’ 1,523rd career regular-season game moved him past Dirk Nowitzki for fourth in NBA history. James has already played the most postseason games (287) in NBA history. … Only three players have scored at least 30 points in an NBA game after turning 40. Jordan did it four times, Nowitzki did it once – and James has already done it twice in the first five days of his 40s. … Bronny James played the final 1:41 in his first NBA action since Dec. 8. … The Hawks played active defense all night, but they couldn’t shoot. Zaccharie Risacher, Dyson Daniels, De’Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Garrison Matthews combined to go 2 for 21 from behind the arc.
