February 28th, 2017

The Lakers gave a much better effort against Charlotte on Tuesday night Staples, but they failed to make plays late as the Hornets beat LA 109-104.

Kemba Walker scored 30 points for the Hornets, including a clutch 3-pointer in the last two minutes to give Charlotte the lead for good.  The Hornets also got 24 points and 12 rebounds from Frank Kaminsky.

Laker Coach Luke Walton was very disappointed in his teams effort on Sunday against San Antonio, but got a much better effort on Tuesday, despite poor late game execution.  Julius Randle scored 23 points, had 18 rebounds, and 6 assists.  D’Angelo Russell had 23 points and 9 assists on another efficient shooting game as well.

Jordan Clarkson’s basket gave the Lakers a 1 point lead with 2:21 to play.  However, Waker’s 3-pointer put the Hornets back in front 100-98, about a half a minute later.   With 1:07 left Marvin Williams hit another 3-pointer to make it 103-98 Charlotte.  The Lakers never recovered.  D’Angelo Russell made two late three pointers, but the Hornets made 6 straight free throws to get the win.

The win was just the 3rd in the last 16 games for Charlotte, but also their 2nd in the last 3 games.  The Lakers on the other hand lost their 5th straight game, and still have the third worst record in the NBA.  Phoenix is just half a game behind them in the standings (for those of you interested in a tanking update).

Once again, Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng did not play for the Lakers.  It was the 4h straight game Mozgov didn’t play, and the 1st for Deng, although he only played 13 minutes in the game against San Antonio.

The Lakers are off until Friday.  That night they’ll take on the Boston Celtics, for the only matchup at Staples Center this year between the two clubs.