Hornets do nothing right, get demolished by the Lakers 128-100

The Los Angeles Lakers ran away early and never looked back. Malik Monk and Miles Bridges chipped in 19 and 17 points respectively, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Hornets got steamrolled 128-100.

The Hornets took a few minutes to get their bearings. They turned the ball over three times in the first few minutes and only making three of their first five shots. Jeremy Lamb scored nine of the Hornets first 13 points. The Lakers built their lead up to 11 points thanks to a pair of Hornets turnovers and a trio of Lakers 3-pointers. After one quarter, the Hornets trailed 32-22.

The Hornets sloppy play continued into the early minutes of the second quarter. Miles Bridges kept the Hornets within arms length thanks to nine straight points. Malik Monk chipped in with another six points right after. The only bugaboo for the Hornets was their transition defense; the Lakers had several uncontested runs to the basket. The teams exchanged runs, and the game went into the half with the Hornets sporting a 57-50 deficit.

The Lakers exploded out of the gates in the second half, outscoring the Hornets 22-6 in the first five minutes of the quarter to build their lead up to 23. A few minutes later, it was 31. After three quarters, the Hornets were down 97-67.

The benches were emptied for the fourth quarter, and it changed nothing. The Lakers scored nine of the quarter’s first 13 points, forcing coach James Borrego to take a timeout. The rest of the game was garbage time and nothing of significance happened, because that’s what garbage time is. After two hours and thirteen minutes, the game mercifully came to a close.

A night after hitting 20 3-pointers, the Hornets only hit seven of 29 attempts tonight. Kemba Walker only scored 4 points on two of thirteen shooting. Walker, Jeremy Lamb, Nicolas Batum, and Cody Zeller all had plus-minuses of -23 or worse. The Hornets turned the ball over 18 times against just 22 assists. They allowed the Lakers to score 66 points in the paint and 25 fast break points. The coaching staff will have plenty to talk about.

Luckily they’ll have plenty of time to do it. The Hornets don’t play again until next Wednesday when the Cleveland Cavaliers come to town.