CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Lakers have made it clear with their words and recent actions that they want to be a great team.
And for the first 12 minutes of their 112-107 victory over the lowly Charlotte Hornets on Monday night, they played like one.
Anthony Davis dominated early with a 21-point, 11-rebound first quarter double-double to go with a pair of blocked shots as the Lakers sprinted to a 29-6 lead.
Davis outscored and outrebounded the Hornets by himself in the opening quarter, with the Lakers’ smothering defense holding Charlotte to just 19 first-quarter points, allowing the Lakers to take a 20-point lead (39-19) into the second.
But they didn’t sustain the focus necessary to give themselves an easier night, squeaking out a narrow victory for their fourth consecutive win and sixth in their last seven games.
Davis finished with 42 points (17-of-28 shooting) and 23 rebounds for the fifth 40-point, 20-rebound game of his career.
The Hornets cut their deficit to three after Davis fouled Josh Green on a late 3-point attempt, with Green making all three free throws to cut the Lakers’ lead to 110-107 with 13 seconds remaining.
Davis sealed the victory with a pair of free throws after the Hornets were forced to intentionally foul him.
The Lakers improved to 28-16 overall and 10-12 on the road with a 2-0 start to their “Grammy” trip after Saturday’s victory over the Golden State Warriors.
LeBron James finished with 22 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, but he also had five of the Lakers’ 19 turnovers. Davis also had four turnovers.
Austin Reaves finished with 17 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals.
The Lakers will continue their back-to-back set with a matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.
The Hornets (12-31) outscored the Lakers 88-73 over the final three quarters, which led to four Lakers starters logging at least 36 minutes.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said his team played hard in all four quarters but said they had several mental errors, using the term “brain fog” to describe their play at times on Monday night.
Miles Bridges had 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists to lead Charlotte. Josh Okogie added 19 points and four steals off of the bench.
Star guard LaMelo Ball (seven points in nine minutes) left the game in the second quarter after rolling his left ankle on Jarred Vanderbilt’s foot while backpedaling.
NOTE
Davis became just the second NBA player since 1996-97 to get at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in any quarter. Milwaukee Bicks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was the other, doing so in the fourth quarter of a February 2023 game against the Clippers. Davis shot 9 for 12 from the field in the first, when the Lakers made 14 of their first 16 shots.
More to come on this story.