Lakers are looking to extend their winning streak to seven games, and 15 straight at Staples Center while maintaining the leagues best record tonight against New Orleans. The Lakers are prepared to face a stiff challenge from this Chris Paul led team; this will be round two versus the Hornets this season.
The Lakers beat the Hornets twice in New Orleans 93-86 on Nov.12, 2008 & 100-87 on Dec. 23, but the Lakers can’t sleep on them. They’re still a very dangerous team.
In the last match up, the Lakers made quick work of the Hornets on their way to dismantling them leading by 19 at halftime and staying focused on the defensive end of the court to win by 13.
The Lakers performance that night was far more dominant than the score would indicate, especially while on a four-game road trip after dropping two winnable games. The thorough beat down of arguably the second best Western conference team made a definitive statement to the Hornets and the rest of the league.
Chris Paul, one of the NBA’s best point guards and one of Kobe Bryant’s USA Basketball teammates, presents a huge challenge, the challenge of keeping him out of the paint and slowing down his dribble penetration. This is when he gets his teammates involved and becomes more of a problem.
The Hornets run the pick and roll play a million times and Chris Paul has his choice of which direction to go with the ball, score or distribute the ball. They’re pick and roll play becomes more of a pick and pop with several spot up mid-range and 3-point shooters.
The Lakers won the last game by being able to sustain their defensive effort on Chris Paul, they’ll need a repeat performance tonight.
The Lakers might want to force him to become a scorer to avoid getting his teammates involved. The Lakers need to continue to maintain focus on the defensive end. I look for excellent player movement and ball movement.
The Lakers have an advantage with their long front line and will win by controlling the tempo, glass and rotating out to three point shooters.
Tipoff: 7:30 PM PST
Television -
- Los Angeles: Fox Sports West 1 HD (Joel Myers & Stu Lantz)
- New Orleans: Cox Sports Television (Bob Licht & Gil McGregor)
Radio -
- Los Angeles: AM570 KLAC (Spero Dedes & Mychal Thompson)
- New Orleans: WTIX 94.3 FM & 690AM (Gerry Vaillancourt & Sean Kelley)
Injuries -
Lakers:
- Jordan Farmar (Knee)
- Luke Walton (Toe)
Hornets:
- None to report.
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