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Previous L.A. - New Orleans Running Diaries
Game 1: Lakers 93, Hornets 86
Game 2: Lakers 100, Hornets 87
Inactives
Lakers: Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton
Hornets: Ryan Bowen, Julian Wright
Your National Anthem singers tonight were the “Colgate 13.” My only question is, what are those guys doing in L.A.? Did they come all the way out just to sing the N.A.? They were fine and everything, but doesn’t UCLA or USC have an a cappella group? Or, if you’re going to call on a private school from New York, can you at least get Andy Bernard’s Cornell group, “Here Comes Treble?”
Starters:
Lakers Fish, Kobe, Vladi, Pau and Bynum (like the first 20 games)
Hornets Chris Paul, Rasual Butler, Peja Stojakovic, David West and Tyson Chandler
First Quarter
9:48 The Lakers first point came on a free throw from Andrew Bynum after L.A. missed its first five shots, though Charlotte hit just 1-of-4. I’m still trying to figure out how to get “Here Comes Treble” in here. The potential to equal Whitney Houston’s Super Bowl Anthem is there, I feel.
7:27 Bynum’s first foul came after Chandler grabbed his second offensive board of the early goings, and he managed to make both of his free throws for an 8-6 Hornets lead. Chandler making both free throws is generally as likely as the guys on MTV’s “Bromance” not crying (seriously, did anyone watch last night? Five of the seven dudes trying to be Brody Jenner’s BFF openly wept on the show. It was awesome, just an emotional, entertaining tour de force).
6:30 Fisher’s second three pointer made me think of the extra practice time he put in after Sunday’s shootaround, and today’s shootaround, honing his stroke. Guess that’s paid off…
5:12 After West’s jumper made it 16-9 visitors, it’s not too early to say that the Hornets look much better than they did both times L.A. jumped on ‘em in New Orleans. Clearly that was a focus for head coach Byron Scott, as L.A. jumped all over his squad in November and December, and so far his troops have listened. That L.A. made only 3-of-12 shots, including a few missed layups, didn’t hurt N.O.’s cause.
3:24 Vladi’s third field goal attempt just rimmed out, much like his first two. Also missing layups today: Fisher (2), Gasol and Bynum. It’s hard to tell if it’s a lack of focus that’s plaguing the Lakers, but the Hornets have certainly been the more energetic bunch.
Indeed, Chris Paul has been as aggressive as he generally is in fourth quarters by taking five shots and making four for nine points and a 23-15 Hornets lead. CP3 often uses first halfs to get his teammates going, but that’s not the game plan tonight (oh wait … he also has four assists … scratch that).
2:47 Pau Gasol, who’s fifth in the NBA with his 56.2 shooting percentage, has missed all three of his shots tonight. But he can do THIS, which is fun.
2:32 Sasha Vujacic checks in and immediately nails a three to make it 24-18 N.O. A rhythm shooter, Vujacic often makes his second shot after canning his first. Vujacic will have other things on his mind tonight, however, as he’s guarding CP3.
1:49 Technical on James Posey, who earned a solid round of boos from Lakers fans after checking in. Posey got the T by taking a swing at Kobe’s head after Bryant dribbled around him. Posey is steadily building on his reputation for being the opposite of “clean.”
1:14 Sure enough, Vujacic’s second jumper was also a swish. But at the other end, he earned his second foul of the quarter, and had a tough time with Paul on the previous two possessions. Then, with only 10 seconds left in the quarter, Sasha for some reason got all up in Paul’s face 30 feet from the basket, and not only sent Paul to the foul line (32-24 N.O.) but committed his third foul. Silly.
The Hornets made 11-of-21 shots in the quarter, including 9-of-11 free throws, while L.A. converted 9-of-22 and 5-of-8 free throws. Neither team turned it over (one each), while the Hornets handled the glass 15-9. Paul finished with 15 points, while Odom and Vujacic had five each off the bench to go with Bryant’s nine.
Second Quarter
10:41 Bynum’s first field goal came after two earlier misses, and sparks a larger question … How do you get the kid to be more aggressive? Where’s the fire? Maybe someone should punch him in the chest or something once every few minutes?
10:16 Dirty play No. 2 from Posey, a nudge of Ariza while Trevor was up in the air.
10:13 Wow, huge spin move and power slam from Bynum. Thanks for listening. Did someone punch him? One other point: L.A. is doing a really good job of getting out to contest possible threes (N.O. is 1-of-2).
8:51 Kenny G! A great moment from L.A.’s game ops during a timeout as we heard one of his classic sax bits as his mug and mop of hair appeared on the jumbotron. No complaints about that.
8:11 How many times this season has Ariza created a steal on a great play, chased it down and fed a teammate? The most notable was on X-Mas, to Vujacic, but this one went to Radmanovic for an and-1 over Posey and a 36-35 deficit. As such, the Lakers made up five points with CP3 out of the game. As Paul checked in, Ariza drew the defensive assignment, and chased him around very effectively until Chandler threw the ball out of Paul’s reach, causing a backcourt turnover. Great lil’ stretch from T.A.
6:28 Odom’s three gives L.A. its first lead of the night, and gives him nine points. A minute later, he’d convert an and-1 to get to 12 points. It’s certainly a good sign for the Lakers to see Odom this aggressive offensively, particularly as Gasol has yet to score.
3:25 Which one of these is more likely true: A) Joe Crawford loves to blow his whistle; B) James Posey plays clean.
3:12 Kobe triple ties the game at 48. That’s 14 points for the MVP. However, Odom walked off the floor with trainer Gary Vitti after going down in the lane. Odom had just a slight limp as he moved under his own power - a good sign - but we’ll have to wait to see what’s wrong with him.
0:58 A really sloppy stretch from the Lakers allowed New Orleans to score seven straight points, six easy transition points plus an illegal defense free throw, to take a 57-50 lead. Paul made it a nine-point game after a driving pull up.
0:22 Ariza dropped a momentum staggering triple at a good time for the Lakers, though Paul managed another bucket with 1.6 left on the clock to get to 23 for the half, including six points in the last 1:18.
00.4 MAMBA. Kobe’s 39-foot line drive heave slipped right through the rim to cut the lead to 61-56 heading into the locker room. Swish.
After four turnovers in the final two minutes, his and Ariza’s threes were almost unfair to New Orleans, who had capitalized in full fashion to the giveaways. But those types of buzzer beaters can completely change the momentum of the subsequent half, so the Hornets have to be kicking themselves a bit. They played great, shooting 21-of-39 (53.8 percent) to get their 61 points, and L.A. couldn’t make a thing (Gasol didn’t even score), but L.A. is right there. Still, after trailing big both times these teams met in the Crescent City, N.O. will take it.
Third Quarter
10:45 Kobe’s feeling it. Two straight jumpers to open the third quarter put him at 7-of-9 for the evening, good for 21 points. This shouldn’t be surprising, as Bryant’s been shooting the lights out in his last four games.
***Odom Out With Hyper-extended Left Knee***
Word from the Lakers PR staff is that Odom hyper-extended his right knee, is out for the remainder of the game and will get an MRI tomorrow. In the short term, this means we’ll probably be seeing some Josh Powell off the pine, in addition to a heavy dose of Ariza and Vujacic.
8:15 Vladi misses a dunk, leading to a Hornets fastbreak in which Butler finishes Paul’s 10th assist with a jam, and N.O. is up 75-67.
7:34 West hasn’t missed yet this quarter, making all five of his shots to put N.O. up 77-69.
7:00 Another Kobe triple. That’s 9-of-11 from the field.
5:30 Mamba’s going nuts. He just dropped his third consecutive three, all of which were contested, to pull L.A. within two at 80-78. He’s 5-of-5 from three, 11-of-13 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line for 32 points, including 15 in the first six minutes and change of the quarter. Before Gasol hit his second shot of the game to tie the score, Kobe had scored 11 straight Lakers points.
4:25 He’s NBA JAM on fire. Just shoot it. I’m not even naming who we’re talking about that just hit another jumper to go 7-of-7 for the quarter. On the next possession, he should just heat check no matter where he is on the floor. Just put air under the ball. Instead, Mamba found Vladi for a wide-open three, which he missed. But…
3:15 … Fisher didn’t. Assist Kobe, 85-83 Lakers. Just a stupid Mamba stretch there… I haven’t personally seen someone get that hot in three years of watching NBA basketball on a daily basis. Six of the seven shots swished directly through the rim, while one bounced around for a few seconds before dropping through.
2:03 Kobe hasn’t touched the shot in two trips, as Fisher and Ariza both missed triples. Just sayin’. Pau did grab Ariza’s miss and convert two free throws for an 87-83 lead.
35.8 Where’s the MVP chant? Another triple from Kobe. He did miss on the previous possession, but promptly nailed his fourth three of the period. He now has 37 for the game and 20 in the quarter, and has single-handedly led the Lakers from a five-point deficit to a five-point lead.
01.0 Chandler actually looked good in swishing two more free throws, and is now 6-of-6 for the game. He hadn’t shot over 63 percent in his last five games, and was at 53.2 percent heading into the contest. I guess no one’s going to cry on the next episode of Bromance, even if they have another “Broathalon.” Lakers 92, Hornets 89 after three. Even as Chris Paul’s been amazing with 28 points and 13 dimes (five points, six assists in the third) and he wasn’t even close to Kobe.
Fourth Quarter
10:00 Not a point yet in the fourth for the Lakers. But a fun fact from the third - Gasol was 3-of-3 for 10 points, Fisher hit two more threes for six points, and Kobe was 8-of-9 for 20. No one else scored.
9:08 Kobe again, this time on a driving finger roll, on the heels of a Josh Powell put back to give L.A. a 96-92 lead.
7:41 Butler’s three in transition ties the game at 99, before West’s free throws would complete a 7-0 run to put the Hornets up two just after Kobe went to the bench … Causing Kobe to return.
6:36 West on fire, another jumper, and he’s got 34 points as the Lakers go cold from the field. Part of the problem is that the offense relied so heavily on Bryant in the third quarter that the rest of the team seems out of sorts, and there’s no rhythm in the triangle.
4:48 Posey triple, West jumper, 109-99 Hornets. L.A. was up 99-94 moments ago, meaning New Orleans was on a 15-0 run before Fisher’s fifth three.
2:44 N.O. takes a timeout after Kobe turns it over in the face of a triple team, with a 111-102 lead. That’d be tough to come back from in the best of circumstances, let alone when one’s opponent is shooting the lights out and its offense is pretty stagnant.
1:39 A missed three from Kobe after two good defensive possessions probably puts a fork in L.A.’s comeback chances.
1:17 Well if that didn’t do it, West’s offensive rebound on Paul’s miss, plus a pull-up from the baseline from CP3 certainly did. 113-102 Hornets.
An amazing pin-on-the-glass block from Bryant that resulted in a Fisher three cut the lead back to eight, but Paul avoided a charge even as he lowered his shoulder into Fish, and Vujacic was tagged with a personal and a technical that resulted in three Hornets foul shots and ultimately a 116-105 Hornets win.
That’s the first game L.A.’s dropped to a Western Conference opponent this season, snaps a six-game winning streak and is just L.A.’s second home loss of the season.
