28 points, Shannon Brown added 15 and the Los Angeles Lakers thrived
again without their top two big men, beating the New Orleans Hornets
104-88 Sunday night.
DJ Mbenga had 10 points and 12
rebounds for the defending NBA champions, who easily won their fifth
straight game and their second in a row without injured center Andrew
Bynum and forward Pau Gasol.
Bryant scored all but two of his
points before halftime, repeatedly capitalizing down low with ease
against Devin Brown‘s defense. Los Angeles opened a 27-point lead in
the third quarter and coasted to a 6-1 start.
Chris Paul had 15 points and nine
assists for the Hornets, who made just 36.5 percent of their shots
while opening a three-game West Coast road trip with their fourth loss
in five games.
Bynum’s strained right elbow has
sidelined him for the past two games, while Gasol’s strained right
hamstring has kept him out since the preseason. Both will have three
more days to heal before Thursday’s visit from surprising Phoenix, the
early Pacific Division co-leaders with Los Angeles.
Bryant scored exactly 41 points in
three of the Lakers’ previous four games, but the Hornets’ poor
shooting and often-confused defense created little reason to inspire
another big game. Bryant went scoreless in the third quarter, and he
sat down for good with nearly seven minutes still to play.
After leading by 17 points during the
first half, Los Angeles opened the second half on a 17-3 run with two
3-pointers from Shannon Brown. The backup guard added a few rim-shaking
dunks while scoring all his points after halftime.
Even Mbenga, the Lakers’ backup
center, matched his career scoring high
and fell one shy of his NBA rebounding best while making his fourth NBA
start. Luke Walton added 11 points, while Lamar Odom had seven points,
nine rebounds and six assists.
New Orleans coach Byron Scott began
the trip by bumping shooting guard Morris Peterson from the starting
lineup in favor of Devin Brown, who had played just eight minutes all
season. Peterson started the Hornets’ first six games, but made just
34.1 percent of his shots while playing defense that didn’t please
Scott.
“I thought it was important for
these guys to know that I’m not just going to sit there and let things
go the wrong way,” Scott said before the game.
Immediately after the opening tip,
Devin Brown turned the ball over to Bryant for a drive and a dunk. If
Scott hoped to improve the Hornets’ struggling defense, asking the
smallish Devin Brown to stop Bryant’s much-improved low-post game
didn’t work as planned.
Notes
New Orleans didn’t even dress
Peterson, moving him to the inactive list. … The Lakers are just two
games into a stretch with 14 of 16 games at Staples Center. … Anthony
Kiedis and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers sat together on the
baseline.