The Charlotte Hornets stunned LeBron James and Luka Doncic with a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.
Miles Bridges scored 29 points and LaMelo Ball contributed 27 to lead the team to a 100-97 victory at the Crypto.com Arena.
Lakers star LeBron James scored 26 points in the first game after the All-Star break, 16 of which came in the fourth quarter, despite missing the weekend’s exhibition due to injury.
While his effort was spectacular, LeBron missed two 3-pointers just before the buzzer, allowing the Hornets to hold on after going on a 23-1 run in the second half.
Doncic, James’ new teammate, finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists in his third game with the Lakers.
Los Angeles has lost two of the three games in which their two superstars have shared the floor, indicating that there is still much work to be done for a club hoping to make a deep playoff run.
After the Hornets’ loss, Shannon Sharpe recognized an issue that concerns the Lakers’ playoff hopes.
“They are going to have to figure this out,” the NFL legend stated on his Nightcap podcast.
“The third quarter is what doomed them. That has long been a source of frustration for the Lakers. They have come out flat in the third quarter for the past four or five years.
“They led at halftime, but were outscored 32-18 in the third quarter.
“JJ (Redick) will have to do a better job of getting those guys pumped up. They cannot appear uninterested.
“They had a 13 point lead in that third quarter, then they end up going down to start the fourth… because you get outscored 32-18.”
While Sharpe identified a third-quarter downturn as the Lakers’ problem, he also said that the team should ‘get used to LeBron and Luka playing together’ because both are at their best when the ball is in their hands.
“Unfortunately, there’s only one basketball and there’s two of those great players, and it seems like nobody wants to step on anybody’s toes,” remarked the man.
“But it will take some time, and I’m not sure if we’ll have enough time this season to figure it out.
“Hopefully in the offseason, and next year, they can get it together.”
Post-game, head coach JJ Redick said that the Lakers are still adjusting to their new offensive dynamic, but said it’s a challenge he’s ‘eager’ to tackle.
“I think sometimes when the group is trying to get acclimated with each other you can try to play the right way too much and turn down shots and then you can try to get yourself into the rhythm and not make the extra pass,” according to him.
“I believe the flow of everything will improve.
“I’m excited, because it’s a new problem to solve, we’ll work our butts off to try to solve the problem.”
The Lakers, who are currently seventh in the Western Conference with a 32-21 record, will seek to rebound as they travel to Portland and Denver for their next two games.
