Lakers vs. Hornets Preview and Game Thread: Looking to stay hot

The Lakers look to make it four in a row as they take on the Hornets in Charlotte on Monday.

The Lakers will continue their Grammy road trip in Charlotte where they will take on LaMelo Ball and the Hornets.

This is the first meeting between both teams since their initial game at Crypto.com Arena was rescheduled due to the wildfires. Like the Lakers, the Hornets are also coming off a blowout victory.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Charlotte Hornets

When: 4 PST, Jan 27

Where: Spectrum Center

Watch: Spectrum Sportsnet

The Lakers are currently in the midst of one of their most impressive stretches of the season as they’re currently enjoying a three-game winning streak. On top of that, they just got Jarred Vanderbilt — who impressed in his season debut last Saturday — back, LeBron James and Anthony Davis are healthy and dominating and the role players are clicking.

Not to mention that their defense has looked superb in these last two games, showing signs that L.A. has something to build on as the second half of the season begins. With that goal in mind, the purple and gold also look to stay within the playoff — not play-in — race in the Western Conference, and one way they can do that is to continue stringing wins together like they have over the last week.

Next in front of them are the Hornets, who are actually playing some of their best basketball as of late, at least for their standards. Sometimes, no team is more dangerous than the one that plays freely and that’s what Charlotte is doing.

Unfortunately, they recently lost Brandon Miller to a season-ending right wrist injury, but led by Ball and Miles Bridges, they can still be a competitive team when they want to be.

The goal of this game is for the Lakers’ defense to expose why the Hornets are ranked 28th in the league in offense. They average just 107.5 points a game and attempt the fourth-most three-pointers in the league (41.2) so expect a lot of activity on the perimeter. The Lakers’ defense should be well acclimated to that since they just played the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics.

The Hornets’ offense starts and ends with Ball, who is averaging 28.9 points and 12.6 assists per game. It’ll be interesting to see how JJ Redick game plans against the potential All-Star reserve.

Will Max Christie take on the assignment of containing Ball? Or will they throw the kitchen sink at him like they did with Stephen Curry on Saturday? Regardless, this should be a fun matchup.

The Hornets also thrive when they play at their pace and when teams don’t capitalize on their mistakes. They’re a young team that will keep coming after the Lakers even if they’re down big. So, it would be nice if the Lakers overwhelm them by getting contributions across the board and take them as seriously as possible right off the bat.

Perhaps what L.A. can improve on from their previous game is their turnovers and rebounding. Note that this Hornets is ranked fourth in rebounding, so Los Angeles can’t lose in this department again if they want to end this early. They’ll be on the first night of a back-to-back, so it’ll be ideal if they don’t fool around and play their starters more than they should.

The Lakers have the opportunity to capitalize on their next three games against teams who are less inferior than them, at least based on their current record. There’s no better way to enter the All-Star break than to go on a winning streak.

Let’s see if the Lakers can stay hot on the road.

Notes and Updates

• For the Lakers’ injury report, LeBron James (left foot injury management) and Anthony Davis (right calf soreness) are probable. Just like what was listed last game against the Warriors.
• The new additions to the report, though, are Rui Hachimura (left calf soreness) and Gabe Vincent (left knee soreness), who are questionable. Meanwhile, Jalen Hood-Schifino (left hamstring strain) and Christian Wood (left knee surgery recovery) are all out. Bronny James Jr. is with the South Bay Lakers.
• As for the Hornets, Tre Mann (disc irritation), Cody Martin (core tightness), Grant Williams (ACL recovery) and Brandon Miller (right wrist ligament repair) are out.
• We will be live on Playback for this game, so be sure to join us!

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.