Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons from Bron/Melo showdown vs Hornets

The Los Angeles Lakers looked to increase their winning streak against Charlotte Hornets in the Staples Center. This was supposed to be a hyped-up matchup between LaMelo Ball and LeBron James. In the end, despite LaMelo’s outstanding performance. the “King”  dominated in a Lakers win!

Lake Show Life breaks down what else happened in Lake Show Life Lessons! The only Los Angeles Lakers extended post-game report with in-depth analysis and highlights. 

Don’t look now, but the Los Angeles Lakers are making their move to the top of the Western Conference without Anthony Davis and despite a revolving door of injured players in and out of the lineup.

The Lakers still haven’t lost a game coming out of the All-Star Break by shutting down the Charlotte Hornets winning 116-105. With the Lakers’ fourth straight win, some major shifting happened in the Western Conference seedings.

• The Lakers moved past the Phoenix Suns for the number two seed, when they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
• They’re also only 1.5 games back of the number one seed Utah Jazz, who were upset by the Washington Wizards.

With the NBA starting their TV ratings competition with the NCAA Tournament aka “March Madness”, the headlines were about LaMelo Ball and LeBron James going at each other head to head with LeBron taking the young Melo to school…

But the real stories of the game are laid out here for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The game was closer than what the score shows.

The Lakers allowed a huge 19-4 run in the second half to blow a lead that was as much as 18 in the first half, but extended runs throughout the game kept the Lake Show in control for most of the game.

• The Lakers had runs of 14-2 and 7-0 in the first half.
• Then they had a 10-2 run to stem the tide when the Hornets tied the game at 64 in the third quarter.
• Finally, a fourth-quarter 10-0 run kept the Lakers from going down to the wire with yet another team hovering around the .500 mark in the Staples Center. 

The on/off switch was used throughout this game and the Lakers have been known to get burned at times this season with this practice.

The Lakers perimeter defense is starting to slip!

The Lakers perimeter defense is starting to slip with dribble penetration and huge scoring nights from the opposing backcourt, but this can’t keep happening. They will be challenged with an Atlanta Hawks team that has won seven straight with a coaching change featuring a rejuvenated Trae Young and two Phoenix Suns back-to-back games with Devin Booker and Chris Paul.

In this game, the Hornets backcourt carried the entire team.

• Terry Rozier III: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.
• LaMelo Ball: 26 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds.
• Devontae Graham: 12 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.
• Cody Martin: Even he hit both of his shots for 5 points in 7 minutes.

These are easy conversations while sitting on a four-game winning streak, but these habits have to be cleaned up soon before the Lakers hit their East Coast road trip.

To the new Los Angeles Lakers fans that are checking us out for the first time, welcome to Lake Show Life Lessons. Our extended post-game report with video analysis will cover the progress for the Los Angeles Lakers the entire season!

Over the next several pages we will provide highlights of certain players and coaches. Afterward, the comment section is loaded with knowledgeable fans adding their basketball knowledge. We usually start with the stars.

 Let’s get to Lesson One to find out who!