The Los Angeles Lakers end their All-Star break on Wednesday night when they host the Charlotte Hornets at Crypto.com Arena in a game that was originally scheduled to take place on Jan. 9. The game was postponed and eventually rescheduled for Wednesday due to the wildfires that ravaged the greater Los Angeles area last month.
The Lakers hold a 32-20 record and are in fifth place in the Western Conference and are looking to move up in the standings in the days and weeks to come. They won 12 of their last 15 games leading into the All-Star break. Charlotte has the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference at 13-39 and has lost 11 of its last 13 contests.
For the Lakers, LeBron James, who was listed as questionable and missed the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday due to foot and ankle soreness, will play. They will also have Jaxson Hayes, who left last Wednesday's loss to the Utah Jazz early due to a facial contusion, and forward Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Gabe Vincent, both of whom didn't play last Wednesday, available to play.
Check back throughout the game for the latest updates and highlights.
Lakers end ugly first half with the lead despite poor shooting from Luka Doncic
The first half of this game was ugly and low-scoring. Both teams combined for 20 turnovers and had trouble finding the basket, and Luka Doncic went just 2-of-8 from the field and missed all five of his attempts from beyond the arc. Still, the Lakers lead 48-37 behind 10 points apiece from LeBron James and Rui Hachimura, as well as nine points off the bench from forward Dorian Finney-Smith.
Lakers survive ugly first quarter to lead 28-21
The Lakers committed a whopping nine turnovers in the first quarter and found themselves tied 16-16 with less than three minutes to go in the period. But they responded with nine unanswered points and ended the first period up by seven points as they started to heat up from 3-point range.
James scores eight straight points to put Lakers up 10-6
James may not be 100%, but he helped jump-start the Lakers' offense early in the game. He got loose for a fast-break jam, and he then hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the first quarter.
