The Los Angeles Lakers play host to the Atlanta Hawks at Staples Center on Sunday.

The Hawks (4-8) are playing their third game in four nights here and it certainly hasn't been a prosperous stretch. In fact, Atlanta comes into this matchup losing five of their last six games. That will happen for a young team when they have to play a lot of road games in a row, especially one who has been losing many key pieces. The John Collins suspension was obviously a huge disappointment and then the Kevin Huerter injury just adds more frustration to that situation. That's left Trae Young to feast and he's doing just that. In fact, Young is currently averaging 27.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 9.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game. What's really amazing about him is the fact that he's regularly pulling up and making 30-footers, changing the way people have to defend him. If he can keep doing that when Collins and Huerter return, this could be a team to fear in the second half.

The Lakers (10-2) have the second-best record in the NBA right now and it's truly amazing just how good this team has become. The addition of Anthony Davis is obviously a major reason why but he's not the only one who's made this team better. Players like Danny Green, Avery Bradley and Dwight Howard have come in and given this team a defensive presence, which has been the key to their success this season. In fact, Los Angeles owns the best defensive rating in the NBA and it says a lot about how committed they are on that end of the floor. That's scary with Davis providing 25 points and 15 rebounds while LeBron James is dropping triple-doubles at will.

While they did split the two-game season series last year, the Lakers have won five of their last six games over the Hawks in total.