Los Angeles Lakers: Charlotte Hornets push Lakers to limit, 4 lessons

The Los Angeles Lakers picked things up in the second half and defeated the Charlotte Hornets. We share four lessons learned from the game.

The Los Angeles Lakers should have had a cakewalk playing the Charlotte Hornets at home right? One star played great, one didn’t for three-quarters and then led the Lakers to victory late. Lake Show Life breaks down the game with video analysis known as Lake Show Life Lessons!

The Los Angeles Lakers played a subpar game at times throughout their matchup with the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets are a subpar team that stayed close for about three quarters.

Last year, the Lakers would have found a way to fumble a game like this away and leave the floor with excuses and pointed fingers. Last year, if LeBron James would have coasted through a game like this, it was almost a guaranteed loss.

This year, the Lakers signed some players to the roster that will provide some insurance in case something like that happened this year. Then the front office traded for an All-Star like Anthony Davis that provided the full premium on the policy.

The Los Angeles Lakers allowed the Charlotte Hornets to stay in the game for about 45 seconds before the last frame before the Lakers woke up and ran them off the court for an easy 120-101 win.

That or Anthony Davis decided that he was just better than anyone on the court in a dominant way broken down at the end of the third quarter. Pay attention if you are a Hornets fan because if you didn’t watch the game and just read the box score, you probably missed how Davis woke up Charlotte and his team at the same time.

The first way was how AD woke up his team by igniting the spark that led to a 17-2 run that ended any doubt of the Lakers losing this contest.

The other way was ending the Hornets’ dreams of winning this game.

With the Lakers hanging on to an 83-80 lead with 1:02 left in the quarter, Davis put together a quick portfolio of dominance started by a slam dunk. Then he blocked Devonte’ Graham‘s  shot to start the fastbreak that ended with a basket for Dwight Howard plus the foul (Howard missed the free throw, the only thing he did wrong in the game.). At the end of the sequence, the Lakers had an 87-80 lead and the Hornets chances for a comeback.

The win propels the Lakers to above .500 for the first time this season. Good right? How about this bit of information for Lakers fans to overreact to. The last time the Lakers started a season 2-1, they won the NBA title. Take that Clipper fans.

it may seem that this post game is a call for parade reservations in June, but let’s look at the issues the Lakers had last year that has not carried over to this season.

Remember when the Lakers couldn’t win a game on Sundays?  How about the Lakers collecting losses against the NBA’s worst teams? Last night’s win shows progress by beating a team that is predicted to finish at the bottom of the standings and on Sundays.

Let’s get to Lake Show Life Lessons. Guess who’s the first player to step in the spotlight?

It took about three games, but Anthony Davis showed why the Lakers traded their future to win now!

There were many complaints and criticisms when the Lakers traded Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and a number of draft picks for Anthony Davis. It’s time to let those discussions die, folks, it was worth it. Let’s just move on. The only way this move is a mistake is if the Los Angeles Lakers make it sometime this season.

In short, there are not many, if any big men on the planet that can match this guy’s skill and athleticism. Cody Zeller can attest to this because he was up close and personal for this highlight. To enhance your viewing pleasure, listen to the audio, it says it all.

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1188636343183667200

Fun fact for the Lake Show Life faithful. Anthony Davis was a point guard before his growth spurt. Fortunately for Zeller, Davis’ handles did not erode as he grew taller.

AD brings the ball up the court like he did when he was barely over six feet, then he hit Zeller with a killer cross over that would make Tim Hardaway jealous (Not his son in Dallas!), getting to the basket with an acrobatic layup.

Oh, he did some normal big man type stuff too.

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1188653523635847169

I think the message was received to everyone involved. Davis destroyed the Hornets in the first half scoring 25 of his 29 points. He also added 14 rebounds and 3 blocks.

He had a lot of help with his dominance in the paint. The Lakers do not have a big 3, they have a HUGE 3. When the Lakers’ big men are on their game, opponents will have issues scoring and rebounding the ball.

Common sense comes into play with an interchangeable frontcourt featuring three near seven-footers and LeBron James as the small forward. Take advantage of it and beat your opponent up inside. The Lakers exercised good judgment, dominating the Hornets in the paint, to the tune of 74-44. This stat going forward will be the gauge of how aggressive the Lakers are on offense.

Anthony Davis did go back to the locker room with an apparent shoulder injury but returned soon after.

In this game, Anthony Davis set the tone down low and the momentum stretched to the perimeter.

Anthony Davis played a great game, but this dude showed out last night.

Dwight Howard must have had the Charlotte Hornets circled on the schedule.

In the NBA, there are six degrees of separation that is connected to some players. Dwight Howard definitely fits that bill.

When Dwight Howard spurned the Lakers to sign with the Rockets, he was the first superstar to be swallowed up in James Harden‘s talent tractor beam. Then Howard spent a year in Atlanta before traveling up north a few hours to Charlotte.

Former Lakers GM, Mitch Kupchak was hired and his first call of duty was to trade Howard to Brooklyn for Timofey Mozgov, a former Lakers center.

Howard must have held a grudge. Or at least he played like it.

Dwight Howard is making his claim for comeback player of the year, rebuilding the bridges he burned out collecting a double-double scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. What’s more impressive is that he didn’t miss any of his eight shots from the field. He was one of the supporting cast of Anthony Davis while LeBron James wasn’t scoring the basketball.

With each passing game, it is evident that the rust is starting to come off Howard. This alley-oop finish of a Danny Green pass shows that.

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1188640094699192320

Dwight Howard helped raised the level of defense for the Lakers in the second half that obviously bothered the Hornets. His activity on the defensive end, along with Alex Caruso (More on him later) being inserted into the game wreaked havoc on the Hornets offensive flow.

Speaking of this Alex Caruso thing.

The Los Angeles Lakers are undefeated when Alex Caruso starts the second half.

Frank Vogel has started a trend that actually works wonders for the Lakers’ defense. After Caruso sat the bench for the beatdown against the Clippers, Vogel has inserted Caruso in the lineup in the second half of the last two games.

Two games later, the Lakers are above .500. After shifting the defensive intensity against the Utah Jazz by playing strong defense and providing a second ball-handler, Caruso did the same against the Hornets shifting momentum with timely defensive plays and overall hustle.

It’s really strange to talk about a player that scored only 5 points that had such an impact but the energy that this guy is bringing to the floor in the second half is amazing.

Caruso’s timely defensive efforts along with Dwight Howard held down the fort until LeBron James finally made it to the scoring party.

LeBron James was fashionably late to the scoring party. When he showed, he dominated the 4th quarter. 

Well, this was a strange game for LeBron James. Whether he is still trying to figure out how to get the offense to flow through Anthony Davis or he couldn’t find the basket after three-quarters, he exploded in the last 10 minutes.

After only scoring six points after three quarters, LeBron James finished the Hornets by scoring 14 points and dished out 2 assists. For the game, James dropped 20 points, dished out 12 assists and collected 6 rebounds.

After making sure AD got going in his monstrous first half.

https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1188635678625521665

He used the momentum produced by Dwight Howard and Alex Caruso to finish off the Hornets. LeBron James has been heavily criticized for not being able to close out games. Against the Hornets, that was hardly the case because he was unstoppable.

Lake Show Life would be amiss if there wasn’t a shout out to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. After being consoled by LeBron James after the Utah game where he was booed after scoring one point.

He had a bounce-back game scoring 10 points on 50% shooting (4-8 from the field 2-4 from the 3 point line!). KCP has been through a lot this season. Hopefully, this game will get his confidence back.

The Los Angeles Lakers play the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.