Frontcourt help arrives just in time as the Los Angeles Lakers brace for a Mark Williams‘ revenge game in their Wednesday (Feb. 9) home game against the Charlotte Hornets, their first meeting since the rescinded trade.
The Lakers have welcomed back Jaxson Hayes after he suffered a facial contusion in the opening quarter of their 131-119 loss to the Utah Jazz on Feb. 12 before the NBA All-Star break.
LOS ANGELES – Down the stretch of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 100-97 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, they were without Austin Reaves who was given an ejection in the third quarter.
The Los Angeles Lakers seemed to be in total control of Wednesday night’s game against the Charlotte Hornets to open the post-All-Star break portion of the season, but everything quickly fell apart. Austin Reaves was ejected in the second half and the Hornets immediately responded with an 18-1 run to seize control of the game.
LeBron James got the Lakers back into the game, but some huge plays down the stretch by LaMelo Ball and two late misses from James allowed the Hornets to escape with a very impressive 100-97 win.
The Los Angeles Lakers made a massive addition to their roster when they pulled off a stunning trade to acquire Luka Doncic before the trade deadline. Additionally, they brought in Dorian Finney-Smith from the Brooklyn Nets to give their team more depth.
James, who scored 16 of his 26 points in the final quarter, missed twice from three-point range in a bid to tie the match.
Doncic managed 14 points and 11 assists.
It was just the second win in 11 games for the Hornets, who are 14th in the 15-team eastern conference.
The Lakers are fifth in the western conference, on a two-game losing streak.
LaMelo Ball scored 27 points as the Charlotte Hornets upset the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA with a 100-97 victory.
The fixture, which was rearranged following the wildfires in Los Angeles, was the first game since the All-Star break.
But the rest appeared to do the Lakers little good, as LeBron James and Luka Doncic struggled to gel in their third appearance together since the Slovenian’s trade from Dallas Mavericks.
Miles Bridges top scored for the Hornets with 29 points but it was Ball that proved decisive, scoring a lay-up and two free throws all within the final 15 seconds of the match.
