The Charlotte Hornets trailed the Los Angeles Lakers 29-6 just a few minutes into the game, but they managed to come back and make a game of it before ultimately falling short and losing, 112-107.
The Hornets followed the best game their season with their worst start. The Lakers got a layup line in the paint and built a 29-6 lead in the first eight minutes of the game. Of all people, Josh Okogie hit back to back threes to stop an onslaught that featured 12 straight Lakers makes. Anthony Davis finished the first quarter with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while the Hornets only got to 19 as a team with a Vasa Micic buzzer beating finger roll.
LaMelo Ball left the game after stepping on a foot on his way up the court after splashing his second three of the second quarter. Even without LaMelo, the Hornets slowly clawed their way back into the game. Miles Bridges led the charge with nine second quarter points that all came via rim attacks. Josh Green hit back to back threes to cut the deficit to single digits, and it stayed that way heading into the half.
The third quarter was pretty evenly played with no real moments of magic from either side. Micic had a nice little stretch where he scored seven straight for the Hornets. LeBron got called for a very rare five seconds back to the basket call. That was about the end of the eventful action. The Hornets trailed by nine heading into the fourth.
Josh Okogie had a steal that led to a run out and an and-1 on another run out to immediately cut the Lakers deficit to just two. The Hornets had a chance to tie or take the lead, but a couple bad possessions prevented that. The offense went a little cold as the Lakers stopped turning the ball over. That changed when Miles Bridges took over the lead role on offense and made a couple circus layups and a three to keep the Hornets within striking distance. They got back within three after Josh Green picked the pocket of Anthony Davis after a rebound then got fouled by Davis shooting a three with 13 seconds left. Davis made two free throws on the other end, and that was enough to seal the game.
The Good
Josh Okogie had by far the best game of his short Hornets career so far. He scored 19 points, but his contributions went well beyond that. Plus-minus can be very misleading, but Okogie leading the team with a +8 was not by happenstance. He was a tone setter on both ends of the floor. He notched four steals and deflected a number of other balls. He was extremely disruptive defensively, and he pushed the pace on offense when he got possession of the ball. You could argue he was the primary reason the Hornets didn’t get completely blown out after the start they had.
Miles Bridges looked like that pre-suspension version of himself where we thought he might have some all star potential. The Lakers couldn’t handle him as a slasher and he made some pretty wild acrobatic finishes around the rim. The only fly in the ointment was the 3-point shooting, but he still finished with a relatively efficient 26 points.
Josh Green has now scored double figures in three straight games after eight straight games of single digit scoring. The Lakers seemed content to leave him free beyond the arc, and he made them pay by hitting four of six attempts.
The Bad
LaMelo Ball hurt his ankle, again. He made a three and stepped on a Laker foot as he was backpedaling down the floor. If we were to irresponsibly speculate, it didn’t look like a bad sprain. But LaMelo has had all sorts of trouble with his ankles and the team has been extraordinarily cautious with injuries this season. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were looking at a lengthy absence.
The first quarter was really hard to watch. The Hornets did a horrible job containing dribble penetration, and it either led directly to layups or dumpoffs for even easier layups. It got a lot better as the game went along, but the hole was too deep to climb out of.
What’s Next
The Hornets host a Brooklyn Nets team that’s been freefalling through the month of January. That’ll happen on Wednesday night.
