Hornets Vs Lakers Game Thread

[TheMaulClaw]

Well.....wow.  The Buzz is back at a fever pitch.  So quickly has an anxiety ridden start to the season been morphed into team confidence and optimism (Thanks Lance).  Now it's up to the team to keep the confidence flowing as they face the Lakers, a team that epitomizes the opposite of excitement and hope.  It's for this reason, this game is scary when it should be an easy W. 

 

The Hornets begin a pivotal west coast trip starting tonight in LA against the Lakers.  If all goes right we'll see a lot of amusing Jack Nicholson gifs of disgust. 

 

There are a few concerns about this game which really aren't because of how good the Lakers are, but rather because of logistical issues the Hornets are confronted with.  Coming off of a physical and thrilling double OT victory and subsequently being faced with a cross country plane trip that comes with annoying jetlag over a relatively short turnaround period, team energy might be a concern.   With that said I don't think this concern is going to be enough to keep the Hornets from winning their 3rd in a row.

 

Keys to the Game:

 

-Team energy.  The Hornets can ill afford to come out lethargic and expect to win against a bad but desperate Lakers team.

 

-Big Al's recovery.  It's been said that Al was cramping towards the end of the Hawks game and since he's the player that the Lakers absolutely can't stop.  Al getting his legs back is absolutely paramount and correlates directly to his FG percentage.

 

-Lance vs Kobe.  We're blessed to have a great defending SG that should limit Kobe's effectiveness....the Lakers only weapon.  It will be interesting to see how much Lance's confidence on the offensive end improves after his recent late game heroics.

 

-Bench play.  I expect Clifford to utilize the bench as much as possible in this game to save the starters for the tougher road games ahead.  If we win the 2nd team battles it will serves us nicely for the upcoming games against tougher opponents.

 

Prediction:

 

108-96  Hornets.

 

 

 

[The Huddler]

OT wins are nice, but I could use a nice 20+ point win to mix in.

[Chuckie]

I also think jet lag and the quick turnaround will play apart in this game. Not sure how the W's and L's pan out this week. However I do think we will have a team that is gellin and working good together as a team at the end of this road trip.

We are about to cross that point where the cobwebs and rust are shaken off and we find out where people fit into thir roles on the team.

[Mol3m4n]

First full game I'll watch this year. I'm excited.

[TheMaulClaw]

First full game I'll watch this year. I'm excited.

 

Well where have you been?

[Mol3m4n]

Well where have you been?

Watching bits and pieces. My Lakers haven't really been balling out this year. I might as well get excited to watch my favorite teams from the East and West duke it out.

[cbarrier90]

I expect a slow start but a comfortable victory (for the sanity of the fans' sake)

[bLACKpANTHER]

is it on TNT or something?

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

It will be on the TWC special events channel for those with TWC.

Btw i may have missed whole seasons of bobcats bc the channel does not show there is a game on there in the channel description. Only "check back for events.".

I was pissed the Hornets were blacked out on the league pass and stumbled onto it.. Thank freakin Ganesha.

[KendrickPanther]

On Att Uverse games are usually on 1728 for me. It's Fox Sports South. I highly recommend people DVR more than the allotted time.

 

I'm really excited to play the Lakers. I have no idea who is on Sunday Night Football but I know what I'll be watching at 9:30

[MichaelNewtonII]

If we can't handle the lakers the team should start to take a look in the mirror and find what's wrong

[teeray]

This game worries me. Emotional 2OT game, then travelling across country to face a hungry team.

We have got to show up early

[KendrickPanther]

Well it's like this. It's in the Staples Center. You win by 10 or you don't win. If the score is close the refs will give Kobe a chance to win it.

[BIGH2001]

Lakers have had 5 days off. We flew cross country after double OT on Friday night. If we win this one I'll be impressed.