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Atlanta 95, LA Lakers 83
Hawks Add to Lakers' Woes

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 12 (Ticker) -- Phil Jackson's Los Angeles Lakers are in an unfamiliar territory.

Kobe Bryant scored 21 points but made just 8-of-27 shots as the Lakers fell to the Atlanta Hawks, 95-83, for their first four-game losing streak under Jackson.

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The Lakers' last four-game slide occurred from April 9-15, 1995. They have won three straight NBA Championships under Jackson, who had not dropped four in a row since 1994-95 as coach of the Chicago Bulls.

"Nobody really knows what to do in this situation because we are not used to losing at this place," said Lakers guard Brian Shaw, who scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and made 5-of-6 3-pointers. "I think we just have to get back to basics."

Los Angeles has started a season with six losses in its first eight games for the first time since 1966-67.

"Initially, before I came (to the locker room) I was furious I wanted to kick someone in the butt," said Bryant, who failed to score in the fourth quarter. "I went in the trainer's room and Jim Cotta (Lakers strength and conditioning coach) is holding his little daughter. I don't know how old she is, but she's the cutest thing in the world. It just put things in perspective.

"I swear to God. I'm not even upset. Truth of the matter is we're playing bad. We need to make shots that are very makeable shots. We're not making them. Some guys need to find their jump shot. And they will. They'll come around. But what doesn't break you makes you stronger."

Los Angeles continued to play without three-time NBA Finals MVP Shaquille O'Neal, whose return from offseason toe surgery was postponed. The Lakers are hoping to have O'Neal back Friday against Golden State.

"We are not doing anything right, not shooting the ball, executing our offense," Shaw said. "Defensively, we are not helping each other out like we should, especially in the absence of Shaq. We are finding out how difficult it is with him not in there because he attracts so much attention."

Lakers forward Devean George also sat out with two sprained ankles after starting the first seven games. Earlier Tuesday, reserve center Soumaile Samake was suspended five games for violating the NBA's steroids policy, but forward Rick Fox returned from a six-game suspension and had 12 points and eight rebounds in his first start of the season.

"I think in the start of the season you have great experience of things happening, especially coming off a championship," Fox said. "With a feeling we are going to do this again, still we have to understand this is a long road, and right now we are dealing with things that other teams deal with over the course of the season such as injuries and absent players, suspensions and things like that."

Shareef Abdur-Rahim collected 26 points and 10 rebounds and Jason Terry scored 21 points for the Hawks, who snapped a three-game losing streak and finished a 2-3 road trip.

"Obviously, with the big fella being out, we felt like we had a big advantage inside and we tried to show that," said Abdur-Rahim, who had 20 points in the first half. "A lot of things came from that. I was able to score early. They were doubling, trying to get the ball out of my hands, and other guys stepped up and made shots and made plays."

Atlanta maintained a double-digit lead for most of the third quarter, but the Lakers pulled within 77-75 with 6:12 left in the fourth on a 3-pointer by Shaw.

The Hawks answered with a 9-2 run to put away Los Angeles.

Atlanta, which last trailed 34-33 with 4:29 left in the second quarter, scored the first 12 points of the third to build their biggest lead, 57-40, with 9:53 remaining.

"That was huge," Terry said. "Coming in at halftime, we felt we were kind of just playing with them, falling into that lull. We knew we had to reassert ourselves in the third and make it tough on them to comeback, and we did."

Robinson contributed 14 points and 12 rebounds, Ira Newble also scored 14 points and Theo Ratliff grabbed 11 rebounds as the Hawks shot 43 percent (32-of-74) from the field and owned a 55-47 edge on the glass.

"Kobe's a great player, but they're hurting without Shaq," Newble said. "He's an All-Star and I don't think they can win too many games without Shaq. But with him and Kobe together, of course they're a great team. And they have a good supporting cast. But when the supporting cast doesn't step up for Kobe, he can't carry the load by himself."

Stanislav Medvedenko chipped in 10 points off the bench for the Lakers, who shot 34 percent (32-of-94).

"Wow, we were really pathetic out there," Jackson said. "We just didn't have the rhythm out there. Lots of opportunities, turnovers were limited, but the effort was good. We will get the game back in order and have a chance to win."