Williams Gets Hot In 4th As Lakers Come From Behind To Beat Hawks

ATLANTA (AP) — Lou Williams scored 16 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied after trailing most of the game to beat the Atlanta Hawks 123-116 on Wednesday night.

D'Angelo Russell led the Lakers with 23 points.

Williams, the Atlanta native who played for the Hawks from 2012-14, had a quiet game before his big final quarter.

Dwight Howard had 31 points and 11 rebounds and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 26 points for Atlanta.

A 3-pointer by Brandon Ingram early in the fourth quarter gave the Lakers a 99-98 lead — their first since the opening period. A layup by Williams stretched the Lakers' lead to 107-100.

A steal and basket by Atlanta's Dennis Schroder and a 3-pointer by Kyle Korver — his first points of the game — cut the lead to two.

Williams beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer, and a jam by Larry Nance Jr. gave the Lakers a 118-112 lead.

After Julius Randle blocked a shot by Schroder, Nick Young's 3-pointer with 17.9 seconds remaining clinched the win. Young had 17 points.

TIP-INS

Lakers: C Timofey Mozgov, who suffered a left eye contusion in Tuesday night's loss at Indiana, did not play. After results from a CT were inconclusive, Mozgov will have additional tests and will be examined by team doctors on Thursday when the team returns to Los Angeles. ... The Lakers shot 60.9 percent in the third quarter and 53.9 percent for the game. ... Luol Deng had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Hawks: Hardaway hit two 3-pointers in the last minute of the opening quarter, giving him 14 points with four 3-pointers for the period. ... Schroder had 11 points and six assists.

FACES IN THE CROWD

Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. had a front-row seat. Former Atlanta Falcons star receiver Roddy White also drew cheers when shown on the video board.

ROOKIE DEBUT

Lakers rookie Ivica Zubac, 19, of Croatia had six points in his NBA debut as the fill-in starter for Mozgov. Howard went straight at Zubac with a jam on Atlanta's first possession, but the young Zubac didn't back down. Zubac answered by making a hook shot over Howard and then scored again for the Lakers' second field goal. Zubac lasted only about five minutes before going to the bench with his third foul.

UP NEXT

Lakers: After ending a four-game trip, the Lakers return home to play Golden State on Friday night.

Hawks: After opening the season with a home win over Washington, Atlanta plays at the Wizards on Friday night.