The New Orleans Hornets have overcome major injuries to their team throughout this season, but the recent season-ending torn ACL injury sustained by PF David West might be too tough for this Hornets team to play through.
The Lakers exposed the absence of David West with a 102-84 victory over New Orleans Sunday Night which helped the Los Angeles improve to 15-1 since the All-Star Break and extended the current win streak to seven games.
The Lakers were in control for nearly the entire game except for a late fourth quarter run by the Bee's. However, Kobe came to the rescue and the Lakers forced the Hornets into tough shots to capture a pretty easy win.
Carl Landry filled in the starting lineup for the ailing West and played a great game with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Emeka Okafor pitched in 14 points and 11 boards while Chris Paul had an off night with just 10 points.
Paul's subpar point total was influenced by the Lakers limiting the Hornets offense with tenacious defense. The Hornets were forced to take outside jumpers, many of which they missed, as the Lakers protected the paint.
Pau Gasol took advantage of the missing David West by dominating the boards and going to work offensively. Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom were in foul trouble for a good part of the game(there was even a Joe Smith sighting!), but still combined for 21 points and 10 rebounds. Kobe put up 30 points, but he did take 25 shots.
Player of the Game: Pau Gasol 23 pts 16 rebs 4 blks
Highlight of the Game: Shannon Brown On the fastbreak, Brown ran up the court and with Aaron Gray lurking behind him, he rose up and switched the ball from his right hand to hsi left hand to send home a nice dunk. Video below.
Next Game: Thursday vs. Dallas Mavericks 53-21 3rd Western Conference
Huge game in deciding playoff seeds!
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