Lakers grab their first Vegas Summer League win in nailbiter ending

Bronny James, Blake Hinson and Colin Castleton were a big part of the Lakers winning their first Summer League game.

It took a fourth-quarter rally, but the Lakers finally earned their first Summer League win, beating the Atlanta Hawks 87-86 on Wednesday night.

With Dalton Knecht out, Bronny James would be the only center of attention and he delivered his best performance. He ended with 12 points, going 5-11 from the field. Colin Castleton scored 17 points, along with 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Armel Traoré had eight points, one rebound, one assist and two steals and Sean East II pitched in with six points, grabbed five rebounds and dished six assists.

Mohamed Diarra had a nice game off the bench with eight points. Blake Hinson shot 4-10 from behind the arc and ended with 14 points.

In a rarity for this Lakers Summer League team, they jumped to a quick 12-2 lead with Bronny scoring early. He and Castleton took charge and the team seemed incredibly focused. The Hawks were able to answer with an 8-0 run to make it a two-point game.

They kept it close with Moses Wood and Mouhamed Gueye carrying the Hawks offensively. Atlanta cut the deficit to one at the end of the first. The Lakers countered and extended their lead to five to begin the second quarter.

Diarra was a huge spark off the bench and drilled three of his four attempts from behind the arc. The Hawks lept ahead by two after an 8-0 run. The Lakers retook the lead on a 7-0 run. Bronny knocked down his first 3-pointer as a professional and looked much more comfortable with his shots falling.

The Lakers were up three at halftime.

The second half began with the Hawks going on a 9-0 run to jump ahead by six. Bronny received a technical foul after some words with the officials. Atlanta’s shots were falling, especially from behind the arc and the Lakers weren't defending them well enough to stop the run.

Los Angeles eventually cut into the deficit by three after shots from Maxwell Lewis and Castleton. Passed the midway point the Hawks went up by 10 points. Much of this game was a game of runs with each team suddenly gaining steam off and on.

Hinson, who struggled heavily from behind the arc, caught fire in the quarter with three straight makes. The Hawks maintained the lead into the fourth by nine.

However, the Lakers didn’t fold and cut the deficit down to six. Hinson’s second-half explosion made it a fun back-and-forth between the teams.

Then Bronny tied the game on a 3-pointer with 3:31 left.

L.A. picked up their defense and made the Hawks struggle with their shots. Los Angeles jumped ahead by three with two minutes left and suddenly, Atlanta missed the shots they converted on in the third quarter.

It was a one-point lead for L.A. with seconds remaining when the Hawks stole the ball and failed to get a shot off in time—giving the Lakers their first win of the Summer League.

Key Takeaways:

Bronny had his best game as a Laker and it looked like he finally felt the confidence needed to find his groove. It’s a promising sign of things to come for the young talent.

Hinson may have found his shot again after struggling throughout the Summer League. He had a great second half for LA.

This team can play really good basketball for stretches, and tonight, they might have figured out how to play a full game well enough to win.

Catch the next game of the Vegas Summer League on Thursday against the Cleveland Cavaliers at 6:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.