The first confrontation between these two teams, at the start of the season, ended in overtime. Last night, the Hornets, who were up to 20 points ahead, avoided going through the extra five minutes of play to repel the Lakers, again deprived of LeBron James (knee) and Anthony Davis (wrist).
Themselves deprived of Gordon Hayward (Covid) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (ankle), the locals got off to the best start thanks in particular to the 3-point address of Terry Rozier (31-21). With a well-paced LaMelo Ball and an already untenable Miles Bridges in the opposing racket, Charlotte returned to the locker room with a comfortable lead (65-49).
A lead subsequently consolidated due to a Russell Westbrook completely off his basketball in the first minutes after the break. Charlotte took the opportunity to afford a 20-point lead (71-51) before witnessing the sudden awakening of the same Westbrook, precisely. With him, the Lakers easily erased their delay to finish the third quarter with only one possession behind (87-85).
The final period gave rise to a good battle but Los Angeles never managed to get ahead (of the whole game for that matter). Money time resulted in an unlikely duel between Ish Smith and Russell Westbrook. The latter, who had just returned two winning shots in a row, missed the winning shot almost at the buzzer.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– The furious return of the Lakers. Led by 20 points one minute after returning from the locker room, the Lakers still seemed very badly embarked. They were able to count on the sudden awakening of a Russell Westbrook, next to his pumps so far, to get back in the game. The penetrations of the point guard had a positive effect on the whole team which managed to find spaces in attack. This resulted in some good laying down sequences and ball circulation.
– Holes in the racket. Under the eyes of Michael Jordan, Frank Vogel had decided to relaunch his namesake DeAndre in the racket of the Lakers, after six undisputed matches. This one did not have a big impact, especially in terms of protecting the circle. The Hornets of a royal Mason Plumlee under the circle (17 rebounds) have thus scored 58 points in the racket of the Lakers, 20 more than their opponents.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Miles Bridges. While the Rozier-Ball pair were busy sending from long range, the power winger carried out most of his yard inside. Author of a very beautiful “windmill dunk” in counter-attack, he signed a complete match.
✅ Ish Smith. Impeccable evening of address for the rear substitute for the Hornets who signed his best game of the year. Author of several important baskets at the very end of the game, he was a real pain for the defense of the Lakers.
✅ Russell Westbrook. Five points scored, -27 when he was on the field, one of his worst career ratios… The last member of the Lakers “Big Three” had a terrible first period. And the first moments of the second were not much more glorious (countered by Cody Martin, 3-point airball, missed lay-up…). By keeping a big aggressiveness towards the circle, the leader ended up unblocking offensively to sign a great second period ended with 30 points scored! He said he did not regret his 3-point attempt at the buzzer when he could have penetrated again to equalize.
✅ The Lakers bench. Awkward at 3-points, Carmelo Anthony has given a lot in other sectors than “scoring”, notably by signing two counterattacks. The veteran was well supported in his efforts off the bench by Kent Bazemore or a very good Austin Reaves.
⛔ The Lakers five. In contrast to the previous point, the California holders, with the exception of Russell Westbrook, did not bring much and all finished with a negative impact on the score of at least ten units. Frank Vogel therefore had to reduce playing times.
MICHAEL JORDAN IN SUFFERING
During the game, the cameras often lingered on Michael Jordan. The owner of the Hornets was in his dressing room, and he obviously had a bad time with his team’s complicated “money time”…
THE FOLLOWING
Hornets (28-22) : reception of the Clippers, Sunday.
Lakers (24-26) : trip to Atlanta, Sunday.
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