The recent trends continued Tuesday night at Philips Arena for the Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Lakers, and that wasn’t good news for Hawks’ fans.

The Lakers made it eight victories in a row, running out to a big lead and cruising to a 101-87 victory over Atlanta, the Hawks’ third consecutive defeat.

The Hawks got a team-high 17 points from Al Horford. Josh Smith scored 16 points, Kirk Hinrich added 12, Joe Johnson scored 11 and Damien Wilkins added 10 for Atlanta, which sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta is three games behind fourth-place Orlando and leads New York by three games.

Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 26 points, one of five Lakers to hit double figures. Andrew Bynum scored 16 points with 16 rebounds, Pau Gasol added 14 points and 11 rebounds, Lamar Odom scored 12 and Derek Fisher added 11 for Los Angeles, which moved within one game of second-place Dallas in the Western Conference. The Lakers are six games behind West leader San Antonio, who the Lakers beat 99-83 on Sunday.

The Hawks travel to Central Division leader Chicago on Friday. The Lakers travel to Miami for a showdown with the Heat on Thursday.

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A roster in evolution and a long road trip are coming together just fine for the Atlanta Hawks.

Atlanta even its record at 3-3 on a seven-game road trip on Sunday, downing Portland 90-83 as Jamal Crawford scored a team-high 23 points.

The Hawks are still working their key new piece – point guard Kirk Heinrich – into the rotation. Heinrich scored eight points in 29 minutes.

Crawford hit four 3-pointers off the bench, and Joe Johnson added 22 points. Zaza Pachulia, who nearly was traded leading up to the NBA trade deadline, came off the bench to pull down 12 rebounds.

Atlanta wraps up the road trip Monday night at Denver.

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Atlanta will also get Hilton Armstrong, and they send veteran Mike Bibby, rookie Jordan Crawford, Maurice Evans and a first-round pick to Washington.

The Hawks weren’t particularly happy with Bibby’s place over the past couple of years and hope Hinrich can be an upgrade.

Hinrich is really more of a shooting guard but has been forced to handle the ball more to stick in the NBA.

Atlanta has been struggling of late and just witnessed two Eastern Conference teams make major deals, so they felt it was prudent to swing a trade themselves.

Down 16 points in the first half on Sunday, the Atlanta Hawks instead kicked things into high gear, kicking off the 2011 portion of their schedule with a come-from-behind victory.

Joe Johnson scored 29 points – 11 in the fourth quarter – and Josh Smith added 22 as the Hawks fought back for a 107-98 victory at the Los Angeles Clippers.

Atlanta put together a 15-2 run in the fourth quarter, rallying from a seven-point deficit to take a 91-85 lead.

Jamal Crawford came off the bench with 24 points. Smith and Al Horford each had 10 rebounds, and Smith added three steals.

The Hawks sit 22-14 on the season, 4 ½ games behind Miami in third place in the Southeast Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference, five games behind conference leader Boston.

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Granted, it’s just five games. But the Atlanta Hawks are more than pleased with the start to their 2010-11 season.

Atlanta improved to 5-0 and remained the only unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference Wednesday, riding a strong 18-4 run late in the contest to pull away from Detroit 94-85 at Philips Arena.

The Hawks, New Orleans and the Los Angeles Lakers are the only teams left in the NBA without a loss. Atlanta puts its perfect mark on the line Friday night at Minnesota.

Josh Smith paced the Hawks with a strong effort on both ends of the floor, scoring 22 points while pulling down 11 rebounds. Al Horford added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Joe Johnson finished with 14 points and eight assists.

Zaza Pachulia, filling in for the injured Marvin Williams, hit 6-of-7 field-goal attempts to finish with 12 points. Williams, who will not play at Minnesota, added 11 points before his injury

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Crawford has just one-year remaining on his current contract and will make $10.8 million next season.

He won last year’s Sixth Man award and is the type of player who can come off the bench and put points up in a hurry.

That said, other than being a streaky shooter and scorer, Crawford doesn’t bring anything else to the table.

Every team needs its share of scorers, but $10 million a year for a one-dimensional player seems like an awful lot of money.

For the newest member of the Atlanta Hawks, signing with the team is a chance to earn more playing time. It’s an opportunity to take the lessons that come with two NBA championship rings and apply them in a new place.

And yes, for Josh Powell, it’s a homecoming.

A prep star with suburban Riverdale High School a decade ago, the 6-foot-9 Powell signed with the Hawks on Monday, a deal that first came to the surface of the rumor mill last week.

Powell averaged 3.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game the past two seasons, spent playing sparingly for the Los Angeles Lakers. While Powell doesn’t bring the boost from a marketing perspective of, say, a Shaquille O’Neal, he is a wide body who can give the Hawks minutes and depth in the frontcourt.

He also brings back home two NBA championship rings won with the Lakers the past two seasons.

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The Atlanta Hawks have come a long way from a 13-win season just a few short years ago. And now, they’re coming to stereo.

Monday, Cumulus Media and Dickey Broadcasting Company announced the Hawks will move to 97.9 FM starting this season, the first time in the team’s 42 years in Atlanta it will be beamed on the FM side of the dial.

The Hawks, coming off a 53-win season and their second consecutive trip to the NBA’s Eastern Conference semifinals, also will have pregame and postgame broadcasting on Sports Radio 680 The Fan, which currently serves as the flagship station for the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Thrashers.

Hawks’ fans have long complained about not being able to listen to games outside of downtown Atlanta. All of that will change starting this October.

Moving to FM also gives the Hawks a chance to grow its radio network, as well as expose a wider audience to longtime play-by-play man Steve Holman, one of the more underappreciated broadcasters in sports.

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The Atlanta Hawks handed the keys to Larry Drew last month, naming the longtime assistant coach as Mike Woodson’s successor.

Now, Drew’s lieutenants have been determined. The Hawks have hired Lester Conner to join returners Bob Bender and Tyrone Hill on the bench.

Conner served as assistant coach in Indiana the past three seasons. Conner started his coaching career in 1998 in Boston, and has worked in Milwaukee and Philadelphia, as well as scouted for Miami.

Bender, a sixth-year veteran of the Atlanta bench, returns to the staff. He also coached in Philadelphia, and was head coach at the University of Washington for nine seasons.

Hill, a former first-round draft pick who played 14 seasons in the NBA, has spent the past three seasons with the Hawks as an assistant. His first two years with Atlanta was spent as a volunteer coach working with the team’s big men.

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He turns 39 years old in March. He’s not exactly the swiftest player in the world. He’s been known to slow teams down in the clubhouse with injuries and drama.

So if you are the Atlanta Hawks, why exactly are you interested in Shaquille O’Neal?

This isn’t the Shaq Daddy who led the Lakers to three NBA titles and captured a fourth ring with the Heat, the dominant big man who could be counted on for 20 points, 12 rebounds and a few “ah-ha” moments each night.

No, this O’Neal is a guy who played just 53 games last season for Cleveland, averaging 12 points and 6.7 boards while shooting 56.6 percent from the floor (third-lowest percentage of his career).

I just don’t see the Hawks – a team that thrives on pushing the tempo; a team that needs chemistry after coming apart at the seams in the playoffs – benefiting from signing Shaq. With Joe Johnson already garnering max money, there isn’t much financial wiggle room left for Atlanta.

What cash is left for 2010-11 would be better spent on somebody other than the relic once known as the Big Diesel.

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