The Los Angeles Lakers are trying to get back into the Western Conference playoff hunt and will look for another victory to add to their win column when they take on the visiting Atlanta Hawks Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. ET.
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Acquiring Dwight Howard and two-time MVP Steve Nash in the offseason brought championship expectations, but this Lakers team has grossly underachieved.
Los Angeles (29-30), though, is enjoying its best stretch of the season with 12 wins in 17 games. The Lakers are just 2 1/2 games behind eighth-place Houston and eyeing a .500 record for the first time since they were 15-15 on Dec. 28.
The Hawks (33-24) can forget about catching East-leading Miami (42-14) in the Southeast Division, but they're in a tight battle with Brooklyn for the fourth seed and the first-round home-court advantage that comes with it.
Atlanta was hoping to arrive at Staples Center on a five-game winning streak, but it committed 21 turnovers in Friday's 92-87 loss to Phoenix.
Howard better be ready for Al Horford, who has been on a tear over the last eight games -- averaging 24.8 points and 11.8 rebounds.
Atlanta, though, will likely need a better offensive effort from Josh Smith, who had five points on 2-of-11 shooting on Friday, if it's going to post its first road win in this series since Feb. 15, 2006.
Playing without Horford (torn pectoral muscle), the Hawks had one of their worst shooting performances of the season (34.4 percent) in the last matchup between these teams, an 86-78 Lakers home win last Feb. 14.
Bryant finished with a season-low 10 points in that contest, Los Angeles' third straight victory over Atlanta.
