NBA: Los Angeles Lakers vs Charlotte hornets. Anthony Davis leads Lakers to their sixth win of the season. Carmelo and Westbrook‘s support also proved valuable.
On the other end, Terry Rozier had a season-high 29 points for Charlotte, while Gordon Hayward added 21 and Miles Bridges had 19. The Hornets’ fifth straight loss put a hindrance on LaMelo Ball’s second career triple-double, he had 25 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Although starting from a rough shooting Anthony Davis gathered himself around to finish with 32 points and grabbing 12 rebounds as well. Carmelo Anthony coming off the bench put up a show with 29 points.
Lakers nearly blew a double-digit lead again and needed overtime to beat Charlotte Hornets 126-123. That 41-foot buzzer-beater three-pointer from Malik Monk pushed the Lakers for some extra boost.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, Rondo would ultimately be ejected early in the fourth quarter after being called for a Flagrant 2 foul on Terry Rozier. When the Lakers were trailing by seven points midway through the third quarter, Rajon Rondo replaced Westbrook and powered 24-10 runs to close the third quarter.
Russell Westbrook although having his first triple-double as a Laker with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 14 assists, Lakers are better fitted when Rondo leads the team. Though Rondo’s stat line does not reflect his true impact but had he stayed a little longer Lakers would have a comprehensive win in the regular time.
The Lakers also lost their cool late in the fourth when Anthony and Westbrook were both handed back-to-back technicals for arguing a call, allowing the Hornets to score five points on a single possession to help make up their late deficit. Westbrook then turned the ball over three times over the next few possessions and missed a free throw that would have potentially iced the game.
Hornets were getting a lot of opportunities to come back in the game. They tied with Miles Bridges’ three-pointer when Davis had a chance for a game-winner he missed. Thus the game went into overtime.
Overtime started with Hornets making full use of the possessions they were getting finding a four-point lead. However, the Lakers regrouped themselves with Davis taking over the game. Already feeling low for three days, Davis was definitely feeling the cold. He gave the Lakers a lead to play with and did not let Hornets take the game away.
The absence of Lebron James is clearly visible and so are their flaws. It was a bonus to get a win when we compare how they played but nevertheless, this will provide much-needed confidence to the Lakers as they will be hosting Miami Heat on Wednesday.
