Lakers drop a winnable game to Hornets

The Hornets stung the Lakers in the third quarter, leading to a loss Wednesday night, despite LeBron James putting on a show.

The Lakers’ first game after the All-Star break resulted in a 100-97 loss against the Hornets on Wednesday night.

A 20-1 run by Charlotte in the second half turned this game around and L.A. was unable to ever fully regain control.

LeBron James ended with 26 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and two blocks. Luka Dončić struggled offensively with just 14 points but had eight assists and grabbed 11 rebounds. Rui Hachimura pitched in with 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Dorian Finney-Smith went four for six from behind the arc and ended with 12 points. Gabe Vincent had six points. Austin Reaves was ejected with 3:17 left in the third, he ended with eight points, two rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Dallas struck first, with Josh Green grabbing a rebound and throwing it up for a shot. Then, we saw two impressive plays by LeBron and Luka. LeBron passed to Luka for a fastbreak dunk and then Luka returned the favor with a pass to LeBron for a fastbreak dunk. LeBron shot two threes in a row, forcing Charlotte to call a timeout.

After the timeout, the Lakers added to their lead while the Hornets were missing shots until LaMelo Ball threw a shot off the backboard. The Lakers had a few defensive breakdowns and plenty of turnovers. Los Angeles was shooting 28.6% from behind the arc.

Luckily for the Lakers, the Hornets were shooting 28.6% from the field, so L.A.’s turnovers didn’t put them in a massive hole yet. Gabe knocked down two much-needed 3-pointers. Dorian also drained two 3-pointers. Seth Curry made a buzzer-beating three. At the end of the first, L.A. was up seven.

Rui started the second quarter with a jump shot. Jarred Vanderbilt had some productive minutes and dunked on an assist from LeBron. Dalton drained a 3-pointer, which led to a timeout by the Hornets.

Mark Williams, a former Laker for about .2 seconds, threw down an emphatic dunk in transition. Luka struggled with his offense, missing quite a few shots he typically makes. Finney-Smith hit another 3-pointer to help L.A.’s lead jump to nine.

The turnovers continued to pile for the Lakers, rising to 11. Luka struggled hard with his threes but finally made his second shot of the game, one of his signature fadeaways.

At halftime, L.A. was up 11.

Both teams turned the ball over to start the second half. Luka was fouled and made both his free throws. LaMelo drained two 3-pointers in a row from way behind the arc. Austin then drained a 3-pointer of his own. LeBron threw up a perfect lob to Jaxson Hayes for the dunk.

It was an extremely messy game for both teams. The ball was flying all over the place with careless turnovers.

The Lakers had excellent ball movement as they grabbed a few rebounds off missed 3-pointers, setting themselves up for more opportunities, but they couldn’t connect on them. They were up eight when coach Redick called timeout. Luka stole the ball and took it on a fastbreak for an easy layup.

Austin drained a much-needed 3-pointer that put L.A. back up by double digits. Austin then did an impressive maneuver to change directions to pass to Rui for a dunk. Rui got another basket off an assist from Luka. Los Angeles’ offense was heating up and their energy picked up.

Austin received two technical fouls, ending his night early. Charlotte went on an 11-0 scoring run, to make it a two-point game. L.A. called timeout to regroup. Seth Curry drained a 3-pointer to put the Hornets up by three at the end of the third.

LaMelo drilled a deep 3-pointer to start the final frame. He drained another one to make it a 23-1 scoring run for the Hornets. The lack of energy for the Lakers was jarring. Rui knocked down an incredibly needed 3-pointer to stop some of the bleeding. LeBron drove to the basket with a spin move for a layup to make it a four-point deficit for the Lakers.

LeBron went to the basket again, shooting a layup with his left hand. Luka drained a massive 3-pointer. LeBron then went right around LaMelo for a layup. Both teams started trading baskets back and forth. LeBron was in takeover mode, scoring 11 points in the quarter. He also had a monster dunk over Williams that rocked the crowd.

Dorian drained his fourth 3-pointer of the game. LeBron connected with Jaxson again for a dunk. The Lakers were up by three with 4:43 left in the game. LeBron shot his first free throws of the game with 2:53 left in this quarter, he made both.

Bridges drained another 3-pointer, his fifth of the game, to put the Hornets back in the lead. Jaxson had what felt like his 45th dunk of the game immediately after.

Charlotte then turned the ball over. Luka grabbed a rebound from a missed Rui dunk and threw it up to make a layup. Charlotte couldn’t miss from behind the arc, making yet another 3-pointer.

Rui missed two free throws.

They needed a stop, but they failed to get one, allowing LaMelo to take the ball to the basket for a floater. With 14 seconds left, Charlotte was up four. LeBron knocked down a 3-pointer. They fouled LaMelo immediately and he knocked down both free throws. LeBron had two opportunities to tie the game but missed both.

Key Takeaways:

We’ll give them a pass because of the All-Star break, but this was an ugly loss.

We won’t give them a pass for letting the Hornets get the lead late into the third quarter, that should not have happened.

Nobody panic! Luka needs time to find his offensive groove.

The Lakers’ next game will be Thursday against the Portland Trail Blazers at 7:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.