Agonizing and long-suffering victory for the Lakers (another) in the Hornets’ visit to the Staples Center. Vogel’s side, which still cannot count on LeBron, needed an extension to beat North Carolina, who fell 126-123 despite forcing overtime in a game that had been very difficult for them in the last quarter.
Borrego’s men lost up to 14 points in the fourth quarter, their greatest disadvantage of the game, but they managed to reduce this distance little by little thanks to the doubts of the Lakers in attack and their insistence not to let the shock die. With a partial of 5-16 in the last four minutes, Charlotte managed to force the tie to 115 thanks to a triple by Miles Bridges in transition, and the failure of Davis in the last possession, in which he barely looked to generate anything and tried with a long shot, gave 5 more minutes of basketball to those present.
In overtime, however, Davis would give his people the extra they needed. The power forward, top scorer of the match with 32 goals, added 6 of his 11 points in overtime, leading them in an agonizing end in which they knew how to survive the last attempts of the Hornets, who, already with the 126-123 on the scoreboard, they had three triples to seek the tie, one of which was blocked by Davis himself. La Ceja, in this way, was fundamental not only for his scoring, since he ended the duel with 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Carmelo Anthony, with 29 points, was once again a life insurance for the Lakers from the bench, and with his 7/10 in triples he signed a new vital performance for the team. The forward, who also scored a key triple in overtime, was AD’s best squire, while Russell Westbrook posted his second triple-double of the season with 17 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds. This, however, did not save him from criticism, as his 7 losses and his 5/15 shooting made his performance completely house brand, with all the pros and cons that a man like him has.
The Hornets, for their part, were supported almost exclusively by their starting five, as Borrego pulled a very short rotation in view of the fact that the contribution of the bench was scarce (16 points, the Lakers contributed 59). Terry Rozier, with 29 points, was the team’s top scorer, and LaMelo Ball followed with 25, to which he added 15 rebounds and 11 assists to sign his first triple-double of the course.
Gordon Hayward and Miles Bridges, with 21 and 19 points respectively, were also important, while Mason Plumlee managed to add 13 and grab 10 rebounds, so that Borrego’s entire starting five managed to finish in double digits.
(Cover photo: Harry How / Getty Images)
