Hornets vs Lakers Recap: NBA Dec. 23/22

The Los Angeles Lakers, a team that recently lost Anthony Davis for the near future, hosted the Charlotte Hornets on Friday. The Hornets, despite a 4-13 away record heading into the game, won in a contest that was fairly close at the final buzzer. They, the Hornets, put up a single-digit spread in the game, winning by 4 points. The final score was Charlotte 134, and Los Angeles 130.

Hornets @ Lakers Friday: LeBron James scores 34

With the loss, the Lakers are now 13-19 overall on the season. The top scorer in the game was LeBron James. He had an impressive 34 points in the contest and eight assists. But one takeaway from this game is just how poorly LA should be expected to play without Anthony Davis.

The Hornets are one of the worst-performing teams in the association so far this season. The Lakers losing to them in a game that LA hosted is a big clue as to how far LA has dropped without Davis. The Lakers can only be expected to stay toward the bottom of their conference in the weeks ahead. They look like a good team to bet against for handicappers.

Is Charlotte on the rebound?

Meanwhile, the Hornets improved to 9-24 with the 4-point victory. Their high scorer was PJ Washington but LaMelo Ball had a strong game with 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. Also, Gordon Hayward continues to put up interesting stats. He led all starters for either team with a +14-point differential. Importantly, Hayward and Ball are two players that have each missed a lot of games this season.

If Charlotte remains reasonably healthy, then there is a chance that they close the gap between wins and losses in the future. However, 15 games below .500 will make it very difficult for this team to shoot for anything except for maybe the final spot in the play-in tournament.

• Further reading: NBA Power Rankings