Hornets' Comeback Attempt Falls Short vs Lakers

The Hornets move to 10-28 on the season.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - LeBron and the Los Angeles Lakers took down the Charlotte Hornets 121-115 Monday night to ring in the new year and split the season series.

From the opening tip, the Lakers had control of this one. They began the game on a 14-5 run forcing Steve Clifford to burn a timeout just five minutes in. LaMelo Ball got off to a cold start, hitting just 2/8 shots (1/4 3FG) in the first half. The main offense for the Hornets? Mason Plumlee, believe it or not. He led the bugs with 13 points and eight rebounds in the early going. 

Los Angeles kept the momentum rolling into the second quarter, going on a 12-0 run in the first four minutes, capitalizing on Charlotte's cold streak missing eight consecutive shots to begin the frame. 

All of the LeBron fans in the crowd were happy to see James explode for 15-points in the quarter including an alley-oop from Austin Reaves. Speaking of Reaves, he closed out the first half with a bang stealing a lousy inbound pass from P.J. Washington and draining a 15-footer at the sound of the buzzer, giving the Lakers a 60-45 lead.

After three disastrous quarters defensively, Charlotte finally solved some things on that end of the floor which allowed them to climb back to within single digits. Jalen McDaniels played a big part in keeping the Hornets alive, particularly in the third where he recorded 10 points and five boards. Terry Rozier woke up toward the end of the game scoring ten straight points for the Hornets and hit a big three to cut the lead to just six, 112-106. With roughly 20 seconds left, Rozier hit another three to bring it to four. The Hornets had a jump ball on the ensuing inbound but the officials didn't award it to them, calling a foul instead on P.J. Washington. Rozier hit yet another three in front of the Hornets' bench but he stepped out of bounds. That shot would have made it a one-possession game with 11.4 left.

The Hornets wrap up a four-game homestand on Wednesday night when they welcome the Memphis Grizzlies for their lone trip to the Queen City. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST.

1ST: LAL 22-21

LAL: 10/24 FG | 2/8 3FG | 14 REB | 6 AST | 5 TO | 10 PIP

CHA: 8/27 FG | 3/12 3FG | 16 REB | 4 AST | 4 TO | 8 PIP

2ND: LAL 60-45

LAL: 24/48 FG | 5/14 3FG | 33 REB | 14 AST | 9 TO | 28 PIP

CHA: 17/50 FG | 6/17 3FG | 24 REB | 10 AST | 7 TO | 18 PIP

3RD: LAL 94-76

LAL: 38/72 FG | 8/24 3FG | 44 REB | 23 AST | 13 TO | 48 PIP

CHA: 27/71 FG | 8/25 3FG | 35 REB | 16 AST | 10 TO | 30 PIP

4TH: LAL wins 121-115

LAL: 45/93 FG | 10/30 3FG | 53 REB | 26 AST | 15 TO | 56 PIP

CHA: 42/93 FG | 11/32 3FG | 47 REB | 24 AST | 14 TO | 54 PIP

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