by Paul Newberry(AP)
ATLANTA — Joe Johnson scored 25 points, Jamal Crawford got plenty of help off the Atlanta bench and the Hawks handed Los Angeles its second straight loss, breezing past the Lakers 109-92 Wednesday night.
Kobe Bryant scored 28 points but only eight in the second half as Los Angeles lost back-to-back games for just the fourth time this season. The Lakers won twice on a five-game road trip and missed a chance to possibly clinch the Pacific Division title before heading back home.
The Hawks, who came into the night tied with Boston for the third seed in the Eastern Conference, won their ninth straight at home — their longest such run since a 20-game streak at the old Omni during the 1996-97 season.
Johnson hit five 3-pointers but the bench did the best work. The always-reliable Crawford scored 14 points, Maurice Evans had 18 and the Hawks' reserves outscored the Lakers bench 48-22, also getting a double-double from Zaza Pachulia.
Atlanta went ahead for good on Crawford's 3-pointer with 1:35 left in the first quarter, stretched it out to 55-45 by halftime and was never seriously threatened over the final two quarters, pushing the margin as high as 18 points.
Evans went 7 of 9 from the field, his only two misses coming from outside the arc. Pachulia scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, his first double-double since March 29, 2009, also against the Lakers.
Bryant called it a night with 2 1/2 minutes to go, heading to the bench after a turnover and watching the rest of the game with a towel draped over his shoulders.
The attendance-challenged Hawks drew a full-house-and-then-some crowd of 20,190, a team record since their move to Philips Arena in 1999. Among those sitting courtside were Hall of Famer Julius Erving and Atlanta rapper T.I., who was recently released from a halfway house after serving prison time on a weapons charge.
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