Lakers bring league's top offense to Atlanta without Doncic

The Los Angeles Lakers (9-2) visit the Atlanta Hawks (7-4) on Monday at 7 p.m. ET without Luka Doncic, with turnovers deciding whether the league's top offense holds up against the third-best takeaway defense.

Los Angeles scores 119.6 points per 100 possessions, first in the league, and also leads it in effective field goal percentage at 58.9. No team gets to the free-throw line more often.

Much of that ran through Doncic, who averages 40.1 points and 7.7 assists and is out.

The ball is where the Lakers are vulnerable. They rank 25th in turnover percentage, and Atlanta takes it away on 15.3% of opponents' possessions. Dyson Daniels averages 2.9 steals a game, so a backcourt without its main handler faces the Hawks' quickest hands.

The glass is the second matchup. Los Angeles ranks 28th in defensive rebounding, and the Hawks grab 29.4% of their own misses, 11th in the league. Lakers center Walker Kessler, at 10.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks a game, guards against those second chances.

Atlanta plays at the second-fastest pace in the league. Its offense ranks 13th, and no team gets to the line less.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker leads the Hawks with 22.1 points a game. Jalen Johnson adds 8.8 rebounds and 7.6 assists in eight games, the playmaking Atlanta leans on.

Quentin Grimes, who plays 25.9 minutes a game, is day-to-day for Los Angeles. The Hawks are thin up front: Keshon Gilbert, Mouhamed Gueye, Henri Veesaar and Asa Newell are out, and Jock Landale, Jalen Wilson and RayJ Dennis are questionable.

Both teams arrive hot. The Lakers have won five straight, the latest 121-116 at Detroit. Atlanta has won four in a row, including 124-121 over Brooklyn and 108-104 at Indiana.

Sportsbook prices give the Lakers a 53% chance to win. Our projection, built from the players available and blended with the market, puts it at 50% each, with Atlanta favored by 3.2 points.