A stinging defeat - Orange County Register

LAKERS

A stinging defeat

Lakers get outplayed after Barnes is ejected, lose to lowly Hornets

The Lakers’ LeBron James reacts after getting hit in the head on a drive to the basket during Wednesday night’s game against the Hornets. James scored 26 points but Charlotte ralled to win the first game following the All-Star break. PHOTOS BY William Liang / the associated Press

Charlotte’s Miles Bridges, who scored a game-high 29 points, puts up a shot over the Lakers’ Jaxson Hayes.

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By Khobi Price

kprice@scng.com

LOS ANGELES — If the Lakers looked like a team ready for the All-Star break in their Feb. 12 road loss to the Utah Jazz, then Wednesday’s 100-97 loss to the Charlotte Hornets at Crypto.com Arena showed what can happen when a team is away from the court for an extended period.

Because from the onset, the Lakers and Hornets played with a sloppiness of teams that looked like they hadn’t played in a week.

The teams combined for 37 turnovers, with the Lakers having 18 of those giveaways, and shot a combined 38.6% from the field (70 of 181).

But it was the Eastern Conference’s 14th-place Hornets (14-39) who made the plays when it mattered the most, outscoring the Lakers 63-49 in the second half to give the Lakers (32-21) their second consecutive loss.

LeBron James led the Lakers with 26 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots, but missed a pair of late 3s that would’ve tied the game and sent it into overtime.

Rui Hachimura added 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists, but missed a pair of late free throws. Dorian Finney-Smith (12 points, five rebounds, three assists) also scored in double figures.

Luka Doncic, playing in his third game with the Lakers, finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, but struggled with his shot (5 of 18 from the field, 1 of 9 on 3s) and taking care of the ball (six turnovers — five in the first quarter).

The Hornets outscored the Lakers 43-32 after Austin Reaves was assessed a pair of technical fouls and ejected from the game, with the Lakers leading 65-57 at the time of Reaves’ ejection. Charlotte went on a 18-1 run immediately after Reaves was ejected, putting the Hornets up 75-66 early in the fourth quarter after the Lakers led by 13 in the third.

Doncic made a putback that put the Lakers ahead 94-93, but a corner 3 from Nick Smith Jr. put the Hornets back up 96-94.

Hachimura drew a shooting foul on the Lakers’ ensuing possession but missed both free throws.

LaMelo Ball made a contested layup over Jarred Vanderbilt to put the Hornets up 98-94 with 14.2 seconds left.

James made a 3-pointer out of a broken play to bring the Lakers within one, 98-97, with seven seconds left.

The Lakers intentionally fouled Ball on the Hornets’ ensuing possession, with Ball making both free throws to put the Hornets up 100-97 with 6.3 seconds left before James missed a pair of 3s to seal the win for Charlotte.