NBA: Charlotte Hornets vs Los Angeles Lakers Preview, Odds, Prediction

LaMelo Ball comes back home with his Charlotte Hornets to face the NBA champions, Los Angeles Lakers. Young rookie stated two days ago that there isn’t anything “special” in meeting LeBron, which is why we expect to see a response from the other side. We know that LBJ is a sportsman, but we are also aware that he doesn’t like anyone messing with his ego. The Lakers are playing well, and so are the Hornets, so besides the individual clash between the two above-mentioned guys, we might expect to see a very exciting matchup overall.

Preview

Charlotte Hornets (20-19, +270) had four wins in a row before meeting the Denver Nuggets last night. The team from North Carolina was blown away in Colorado, 129-104, not having the slightest chance to stop Jokic and the boys. In this particular case, the problem wasn’t the Serbian center but the “boys” whose offensive performance was too much to handle for Charlotte.

The Hornets allowed 57.8% of shooting from the floor and had 16 rebounds fewer, 29-55. Apart from that, Denver was dominant in the paint scoring 64 points, 20 more than their rivals.

Terry Rozier had 21 points with 5 boards, while LaMelo scored 14. Malik Monk added 16 off the bench, and these three guys were the only ones with a double-digit number of points among the guests. Gordon Hayward had one of the worst nights this season with seven buckets and six assists, shooting 3-for-7 from the field.

Los Angeles Lakers (27-13, -330) have three wins in a row, and they look rejuvenated following the All-Star pause. It seems that they needed a few days off to pull themselves together and catch a breath. Once doing that, we see the champs rolling over the rivals, even though Anthony Davis isn’t playing.

The LAL defeated Minnesota Timberwolves in the most recent game, 137-121, with LeBron posting his 99th triple-double and becoming the oldest player ever to have back-to-back TDs. LBJ scored 25 points recording 12 boards and assists, all that in 31 minutes.

Montrezl Harrell had one more excellent performance off the bench, dropping 25 points with six assists and four boards. Trez shot 11-for-16 from the field. Kyle Kuzma and Dennis Schroder scored 16 each, with the note that the German had seven assists. Talen Horton-Tucker had the same number of points, with seven rebounds, missing three of his nine shots. As time goes by, this guy becomes more and more involved in the Lakers’ attack, and we just might see him as a special weapon for the playoffs.

Head to Head Games

This is the first matchup in the 2021 season, while the only game last year ended in the Lakers’ favor, 120-101.

Prediction

The spread on the Lakers is -8, and we aren’t sure whether to bet on them to cover that, but what we recommend is to put some money on their victory. Don’t have any second thoughts about the possibility of seeing a surprise here because that isn’t going to happen. The Lakers aren’t wasting chances like this one where one team comes to Staples on the second of back-to-back nights. Go with the Lakers’ win, and the more courageous ones, pick LAL with the spread.