92
107
In the 1996 NBA Draft, the Charlotte Hornets selected Kobe Bryant with the 13th pick, but Bryant decided not to play with Charlotte, and demanded a trade to the Lakers, and in last night's match-up at the Staples Center, Bryant decided to unleash his anger at his once-former employer that drafted him in the 1996 Draft, as he and the Lakers came all the way back to defeat Charlotte for its first win of the year 107-92, as the Hornets fall to 3-4 on the season and 0-1 on their West Coast trip.
It was a tale of two halves for Charlotte, in the first, they came out firing, but in the second half, their defense fell to the wayside, as the Lakers mounted a comeback to get the win, and the defensive struggle in the second half was something Steve Clifford addressed in his post-game comments. "We stopped playing defense in the second half, and you could see our language starting to fade when we started missing shots and not playing defense." Clifford said.
Bryant, and new addition Jeremy Lin both scored 21 points each to lead Los Angeles, giving the fans something to cheer about after 5 straight losses to begin the season. "We got to start somewhere." quoted Bryant. They were also joined by Carlos Boozer, who had 16 points, with Jordan Hill adding in 11 and Ed Davis came off the bench with 10 points to round out the group of double-figure scorers for the Lakers in the win. Los Angeles finished the night shooting 51.2% from the field, better than the 44.3% field goal percentage put up by the Hornets. Charlotte was led by Al Jefferson and his game-high 23 points in the loss, with Kemba Walker adding in 17. Lance Stephenson was the leading rebounder for the Hornets with 10 rebounds on the night.
The Hornets look to bounce back from last night's loss as they pay a visit to Portland on Tuesday to face Damian Lillard and the always tough Portland Trail Blazers for a 10:00 start at the Moda Center.
Charlotte Hornets(3-3) vs. Los Angeles Lakers(0-5)
Staples Center, Los Angeles
Sunday, 9:30 p.m.
Television: SportSouth
Radio: WFNZ-AM(610 The Fan)
Series history(since the original Hornets first season in 1988-89): LAL leads series 31-17
The Charlotte Hornets will begin their 4-game West Coast swing tonight as they pay a visit to the struggling Los Angeles Lakers to begin their trek. The last time Charlotte was in action came on Friday night at "The Hive", when Lance Stephenson's game-winning three-pointer bank shot at the buzzer gave the Hornets a 122-119 double-overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks, while the Lakers are coming off a 112-106 loss at the hands of the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, dropping them to 0-5 as their struggles continue in the early stages of this season.
Scouting the Hornets
If you weren't at Time Warner Cable Arena back on Friday night, you missed one of the most exciting finishes ever in the history of Charlotte NBA Basketball, as Lance Stephenson would hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Hornets a 122-119 win over the Atlanta Hawks in double-overtime, as Charlotte got back to the .500 mark at 3-3 on the season. Charlotte now hits the road for their next 4 games away from "The Hive", and the first of the 4 games gets started tonight in Los Angeles as they battle the Lakers, a team that is still winless with a 0-5 mark.
Scouting the Lakers
The struggles have been hard on the Los Angeles Lakers so far in the early stages of this season, as they are still winless at 0-5, with the most recent defeat coming on Tuesday night against the Phoenix Suns, as both, the Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers are the only 2 remaining teams in the NBA that have yet to notch it's first win of the season. The Lakers hope to get that elusive first win of the year tonight, as they welcome in the Charlotte Hornets, the team that originally drafted Kobe Bryant with the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, to the Staples Center, as Los Angeles hopes to finally get in the win column for the first time this season.
Next 4 games for the Hornets(Home games in Purple, Road games in Teal)
Tuesday: Charlotte @ Portland Trail Blazers(10:00 p.m.)
Friday: Charlotte @ Phoenix Suns(9:00 p.m.)
Saturday: Charlotte @ Golden State Warriors(10:30 p.m.)
Next Monday: Dallas Mavericks @ Charlotte(7:00 p.m.)
NOTES: All SportSouth telecasts begin with "Hornets Live" 30 minutes before tip-off; All Hornets games can be heard locally on flagship station WFNZ-AM(610 The Fan) and throughout the Carolinas on the Hornets Radio Network.
Our ongoing "30 Teams in 30 Days" series, previewing all 30 NBA teams, continues from Los Angeles once again, where this time around, we'll preview the Lakers, as they look to bounce back from a disappointing season without their biggest star and look to get back into contender mode in the Western Conference entering the upcoming 2014-15 season.
Last season's record: 27-55(Last in Pacific Division and 15th in Western Conference)
Head Coach: Byron Scott(15th season overall, 443-576)
Arena: Staples Center(19,060)
Website: Lakers.com
If you are a Lakers fan, and were hoping that last season could be a breakout year for the team, then it was a whole different story, especially for Byron Scott, who returned to Los Angeles as their new head coach, and the end result was a disappointing one, as the Lakers finished campaign minus their captain, Kobe Bryant, and that would hurt the team big time, finishing with a dismal 27-55 mark, and many felt that it would be time for some changes.
The biggest change came when Pau Gasol opted out of his deal with the Lakers to sign with the Chicago Bulls, and that would be another key reason with the Lakers wanted to rebuild entering this season, and they did added some new faces to the equation, including Wayne Ellington and Carlos Boozer to join a healthy Kobe Bryant, who hopes to stay that way this season, and as for head coach Byron Scott, he is determined to turn things around, just like he did in his previous coaching stops in Cleveland, and New Orleans.
It may be a season of rebuilding for the 2014-15 edition of the Los Angeles Lakers, but expect them to bounce back into contender mode to possibly bring home another NBA title to "Tinseltown" this season.
Upcoming team previews in the "30 Teams in 30 Days" series
- Sunday: Golden State Warriors
- Monday: Sacramento Kings
- Tuesday: Portland Trail Blazers
- Wednesday: Minnesota Timberwolves
- Thursday: Memphis Grizzlies
- Friday: Indiana Pacers
- Next Saturday: Chicago Bulls
