Tonight, the Atlanta Hawks took on a red-hot Los Angeles Lakers team that has won their last five straight and could have the NBA's MVP this season. However, Atlanta came into this game on a four-game win streak of their own and looked a bit out of it in the first half.

This remained an entertaining affair until the final minutes, though it saw a few collapses.

Let's take a look at what led to the Hawks' rough loss.

1. First half struggles

To start, the Hawks looked somewhat promising as they jumped out to an eight-point lead in the first quarter. As the quarter wound down, the Lakers took the lead and never looked back, going up by as much as 20 points.

The weird thing is that the Lakers got everyone going defensively, switching 1-5 and keeping the Hawks out of the paint. For Atlanta, they play their best ball when they can get out and run and push the pace until that is taken away, for a more half-court-focused style of play, which is something they need to fix.

2. Luka Doncic defensive focus

Coming into this game, Doncic had been torching the league, and the Hawks threw everything they had at him to slow him down. On the bright side, Atlanta made things tough for Doncic: he had five first-half turnovers as they trapped him and iso-defended him with lengthy, speedy defenders like Lu Dort and Dyson Daniels.

Atlanta's defensive game plan was somewhat smart, as Austin Reaves didn't play, but this let the rest of the Lakers get going and created more openings for Luka.

However, Doncic still delivered elite play, finishing the night with a near triple-double and being everywhere defensively. He finished with 32 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, 5 steals, and 2 blocks.

3. Self made mistakes

Atlanta could have won this game, but they beat themselves throughout, and it ultimately cost them. In the first half, LA scored 28 points off the bench, 28 points in the paint, and 12 points off the Hawks' turnovers.

In the second half, the Hawks kept beating themselves with costly mistakes, continuing their turnover spree to finish the night with 20 turnovers,  29 points off turnovers, and 10 second-chance points. Another key to Atlanta's loss was the number of easy three-point opportunities they gave up as multiple Lakers players had a hot shooting night.

4. CJ McCollum

Atlanta's biggest bright spot was McCollum, who scored an efficient 21 points off the bench. With those 21 points, he officially surpassed 17,000 career points in nearly 900 career games.