The Lakers (24-14) will remain at home where they will host the Charlotte Hornets (14-26) on Thursday. LA is looking to sweep the season series against Charlotte, who are entering this one losers of six of their last 10 games.
Start time and TV schedule
When: 7:30 p.m. PT, Jan. 15
Watch: Spectrum Sportsnet
In the Lakers’ most recent game against the Hawks, they put together one of their best performances of the season. It’s as if they played like they knew losing was unacceptable and that they were determined to turn their trajectory around. The result? A blowout game in their favor.
The Lakers’ performance on Tuesday night begs the question: Why can’t they play like that consistently?
If they did, they wouldn’t be in jeopardy of falling down the Western Conference standings. Hopefully, that’s something the purple and gold realized after their most recent victory against the Hawks.
The Hornets are coming off a tough loss versus the LA Clippers, who they kept up with for most of the game. However, their defense ultimately collapsed, which isn’t surprising given that they’re ranked 22nd in that department in the league.
Like it has been for the most part over the last six years, Charlotte runs its offense through LaMelo Ball. It would be ideal if the Lakers contained him early, because when that happens, the Hornets don’t have a second superstar to turn to.
They have role players like Miles Bridges, Kon Knueppel, and Brandon Miller who can get hot at any time, but if they don’t, they’re pretty much a below-average team.
Still, Charlotte is capable of having outlier performances. Note that they attempt the fifth-most 3-pointers in the league (41.2) and convert them at a high rate (37%), so expect a lot of 3-pointers from them. They’re also better than than the Lakers at rebounding the ball and controlling the pace.
The good news for Los Angeles is that Charlotte has no answer for Luka Dončić or LeBron James. Let’s see if the Lakers can take advantage of that and make it two wins in a row.