With the NBA All-Star Weekend now behind us, regular season action continues on Thursday when the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Charlotte Hornets at the Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers are 32-20 this season and currently hold fifth place in the Western Conference standings, while the Hornets are 13-39 and are second-bottom in the East.
Match preview
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The Los Angeles Lakers have been in great shape lately, currently 8-2 in their last 10 games, but they will be looking to bounce back after suffering an against-the-odds 131-119 defeat to the lowly Utah Jazz in their last match.
Rui Hachimura top scored for the team with 19 points and three rebounds, LeBron James added 18 points and seven assists, while newly recruited Luka Doncic chipped in with 16 points and four assists.
However, the Lakers started exceptionally slowly against Utah and were outscored in each of the first three quarters, which saw them trailing by 18 points heading into the fourth - a deficit they were unable to close by the final buzzer.
Despite the loss, JJ Redick's side will be confident in their chances of getting back in the win column this week at home, where they are riding a seven-match win streak dating back to a 126-102 loss to the Spurs on January 14.
Los Angeles are mid-table on both ends this season, 14th for points scored per game (113.3) and joint-13th for points against (112.5), while they have covered the spread in 54.9% of games to date (28-23-1 ATS).
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Meanwhile, the Charlotte Hornets have been ice cold lately, now 1-9 in their last 10 games after suffering a third straight defeat, going down 102-86 to the Orlando Magic on the road last Thursday.
Miles Bridges led the team with 19 points and eight rebounds, Josh Green and Damion Baugh scored 16 points apiece, while Taj Gibson was the only other Charlotte player to end in double-digits, scoring 10 points off the bench.
After going into the half time break with a two-point lead, the Hornets fell apart in the third quarter and were outscored 33-19, once again showing their lack of consistency on offence against a side at the foot of the scoring charts.
The Hornets are now averaging 106.3 points per game (27th in the league) and allow 111.8 PPG (10th in the NBA), while they also have a positive record of covering numbers at 54.7% (29-24-1 ATS).
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Team News
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The Lakers could be without the services of LeBron James for this match after he was forced to pull out of the All-Star Game for Shaq's OGs just two hours before tip-off due to discomfort in his left ankle.
Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber, Cam Reddish and Gabe Vincent were left out for the defeat against the Jazz last time out due to injury, and all four players are unlikely to feature in this match as well.
The Hornets will be hoping to have LaMelo Ball back for the trip to LA after the star guard was unable to feature against the Magic in the last match due to a right ankle issue that he has been carrying for a few weeks.
Moussa Diabate (eye), Brandon Miller (wrist), Josh Okogie (hamstring), Grant Williams (ACL) and Mark Williams (G League) also missed the last match with injuries are are listed as questionable.
Los Angeles Lakers possible starting five:
James, Hachimura, Hayes, Reeves, Doncic
Charlotte Hornets possible starting five:
Bridges, Green, Nurkic, Payton, Smith Jr
We say: Los Angeles Lakers to win by 5+ points
While the Lakers may have to make do without LeBron James for this match, they are still heavily fancied to win this match given their recent record at home, where they are riding a seven-match win streak.
The Hornets have struggled for results the entire season and enter this match off the back of their ninth loss in 10. We feel they will be unable to keep up with the hosts in this one.
Devesh Jaganath
