NBA 2018-19: 3 talking points as Los Angeles Lakers romp past Charlotte Hornets
The Los Angeles Lakers have started their East Coast road trip with a bang. They totally dominated their match against the Charlotte Hornets on the back of triple doubles from LeBron James and Lonzo Ball.
The Lakers played with great energy from the start. They got an early lead and never looked back, ultimately running out 128-100 winners.
The Lakers took a 10-point lead after the first quarter. The Hornets then closed in a bit in the second quarter, behind some good displays from the bench unit. But in the third quarter, the Lakers closed out the deal scoring 40 points.
None of the starters needed to play in the closing minutes of this blowout victory. Of all the starters, only Lonzo Ball played some minutes in the fourth quarter as the entire team cheered him on for his first triple double of the season.
The Lakers needed to win this one after a very frustrating loss against the Houston Rockets. And they responded brilliantly right from the tip off.
Here are the top 3 takeaways from the match:
#3 Lakers completely dominate third quarter
The Hornets fought back in the second quarter and it seemed as if they would make a close encounter out of this one. But the Lakers absolutely dominated the third quarter.
They had a 40-17 points advantage over the Hornets in that quarter alone, which destroyed any hopes that the Hornets had of a comeback.
Apart from James and Ball, the Lakers again got great production from McGee and Kuzma. McGee tallied 19 points for the team on 9-10 shooting from the field despite having some flu-like symptoms before the game. Kuzma continued his form in the absence of Ingram, going for 14 points.
The Lakers shot 53.3% from the floor and had a 52-38 advantage on the boards for the match. They had total control of the proceedings, to say the least.