The Los Angeles Lakers returned from the All-Star break a day early and hosted the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night in a game that was rescheduled due to the Southern California wildfires.
There was a lot of intrigue in this one with Luka Doncic being off his minute restriction for the first time and Mark Williams playing against the team that failed his physical and rescinded their trade for him. Ultimately, it was the Hornets that came out on top with a 100-97 victory as the Lakers played one of their worst games of the year.
LeBron James found Doncic in transition to kick off the scoring for L.A. and then Luka returned the favor to his co-star. James then buried his first two triples to give the Lakers an early 10-6 lead after eight straight points by the 40-year-old.
Doncic still looked a little rusty as he had some early turnovers and easy missed shots. It wasn’t just him though as the Lakers as a whole turned the ball over at a high rate. Luckily, the Hornets looked just as rusty and weren’t really able to capitalize on the Lakers’ miscues.
Gabe Vincent and Dorian Finney-Smith provided a spark off the bench for the Lakers with two triples each to end the first quarter, giving them a 28-21 lead.
Charlotte started making some triples to start the second and quickly cut the deficit to three. While Doncic wasn’t able to get many shots to fall, he was finding his teammates for open looks to get the Lakers back on track.
Doncic finally made a midrange jumper to end the second and the Lakers went into the locker room with a 48-37 lead after an ugly half of basketball.
After a quiet first half, LaMelo Ball got going with back-to-back 3s to start the third. There was clearly frustration brewing from both teams though due to their offensively struggles, and Austin Reaves would take that frustration out on the officials. After being unhappy with a non-call, he picked up two quick technical fouls and was ejected.
Meanwhile, after a pair of triples by Miles Bridges to cap off a 14-0 run, the Hornets regained the lead and went into the fourth quarter with a 69-66 advantage.
Ball got hot again to start the fourth, quickly extending Charlotte’s lead to nine. The Lakers came storming back from there though with seven straight points to keep things close.
After a triple by Doncic and layup by James, the Lakers were back in front heading into the final stretch of the game. James then put Williams on a poster for one of his best dunks of the season as L.A. continued to regain momentum.
To their credit, the Hornets kept hanging around and Bridges hit another 3 to give them the lead. Rui Hachimura then went to the free throw line but missed both, so the Lakers really needed a stop.
They couldn’t get it, however, as Ball drove and scored to put Charlotte up 98-94 in the final seconds. James answered with a quick triple so the game wasn’t over yet.
After a pair of free throws by Ball, the Lakers had one last chance down by three. James got two good looks but couldn’t connect and L.A. went on to suffer the loss.
What’s next for the Lakers…
Since this was a rescheduled game, it marks the first of a back-to-back for the Lakers as they will now travel to take on the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday before a big matchup with the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
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