What: Charlotte Hornets (12-30) (8-14 home) vs Los Angeles Lakers (25-18) (9-12 away)
When: 7:00pm Eastern
Where: Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
How to watch: WSOC TV (in Charlotte, see here for other local broadcasts), FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–Icon (teal), Lakers–Icon (yellow)
Game Lines: Hornets +5.5, Hornets money line +190, O/U 221.5
Injuries:
Hornets: Cody Martin-out (core), Brandon Miller-out (wrist), Tre Mann-out (back), Grant Williams-out (knee)
Lakers: LeBron James-probable (foot), Anthony Davis-probable (foot), Rui Hachimura-questionable (calf), Gabe Vincent-questionable (knee), Christian Wood-out (knee), Jalen Hood-Schifino-out (hamstring)
This was supposed to be the second and final meeting between these two teams, but the first was postponed due to the wildfires in Los Angeles and was rescheduled to February 19th.
Like we talked about the last time these two teams were about to play, LeBron James is no longer the star. His box score stats are still pretty good, which is impressive in its own right, but James’ impact on the floor is nowhere close to what it’s been throughout his career. According to Cleaning the Glass, this is the first season of LeBron’s career where his team is worse with him on the floor than with him off it. In fact, his worst on/off rating prior to this season was his rookie season, and he still ranked in the 66th percentile. His next worst season fell in the 70th percentile. This season, his on/off ranking in the 9th percentile. The Lakers are 11.1 points per 100 possessions better when LeBron is sitting.
All of this is seemingly because LeBron doesn’t really do anything when he’s not actively handling the ball. He’s among the slowest moving players in the league according to NBA’s player tracking data, which suggests he’s doing a lot of standing around and not making those effort plays. But he’s still LeBron.
Anthony Davis is the real star of the team. He leads the Lakers in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks. He’s a defensive player of the year candidate and he’s dropping 26 points per night. Davis is basically playing as a full time center, so Mark Williams and Moussa Diabate are going to have their hands full. I don’t think this is a game to go small and stick Miles Bridges at center again.
After the star duo, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura bring the most supporting offense. Former point guard D’Angelo Russell has been replaced by quintessential 3&D guy Dorian Finney-Smith, and the Lakers have crushed it in DFS’s minutes.
The Lakers are currently the fifth seed in the West and have won three straight games, including a drubbing of the Celtics. The Hornets will have the full complement of players that played so well against the Pelicans plus Mark Williams. This will be a really good test to see if they’ve really improved or if they’ve fluffed their rating a bit against a softer stretch of schedule.
