Chris Paul got clearance to play more than in any game since his return from a knee injury, which lead me to beleve that is was going to be an interesting game to watch. The Hornets were eliminated from playoff contention with a loss to Portland in their previous game, but that didnt stop them from pulling out all the stops against the Lakers.
Kobe Bryant had 31 points and Pau Gasol added 26 points and 22 rebounds, but that did not help the fact that the Lakers trailed throughout the final three quarters and fell behind by as much as 17 points in the fourth.
Gasol said, “We need to cover each other’s back a little more. We need to scramble and bring that energy on to the defensive end. … We got some good looks offensively. Most of the time we would knock those shots down, but tonight they didn’t really fall.”
Even if the Hornets outshot the Lakers 49 percent to 42 percent Ron Artest added 14 points and Lamar Odom 10 for Los Angeles. Lakers
“You’ve got to play defense,” Odom said. “If we don’t do the intangibles, we need to depend on our shooting to win games and we’re not always going to shoot well.”
Gasol and Lamar Odom blamed the loss on a combination of defensive lapses and poor overall shooting.
