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Los Angeles Lakers head to New Orleans with the series tied at 1-1

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Los Angeles Lakers head to New Orleans with the series tied at 1-1

On Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers will be arriving at the New Orleans Arena to take on New Orleans Hornets for the third time in a seven-game series.
The first meeting between the two Western Conference foes set an exciting tone for the whole series. Playing at the Staples centre, swingman Chris Paul propelled the seventh
seeded Hornets to a 109-100 victory over the two times defending champions. Two nights later, the Lakers bounced back strongly though as they defeated the New Orleans with the same 9 points margin to make the series all square.
Although the Hornets will come into the night on the back of an 87-78 loss, but they have already provided a strong message that the series won’t be as one-sided as it was
anticipated in the beginning. The Hornets have shown some great commitment and tenacity against the spirited Lakers in the first two road games. With the spotlight shifting to the New Orleans Arena in the next game, they will have an added advantage and have
the ability to take down the Lakers on their own turf.
Chris Paul, who tore the Lakers apart in game-1, will be the one to look out for on Friday night. The Lakers, however already seem to have found the answer to contain him,
in the form of an air-tight defense. Although, the Hornets remained competitive throughout game-2, the Lakers played an outstanding defensive game that helped them to outperform the unwavering Hornets.
New Orleans coach Monty Williams admitted the fact after the game. "It was certainly their defence. I thought they were more physical tonight. They played passing lanes.
They tried to take some of our options away."   So when Paul grasps the court on Friday, he has to make sure that he spoils the Lakers plans with his ingenuity.
The New Orleans coach has taken a very cautious approach. Williams admitted that controlling one of the most experienced sides in the postseason will be an arduous task.
  
“It's different because we're playing against a team that has so much experience in these situations, and we don't and I don't. So, we have to play a certain way. We can't
say 'Oh, we split in LA, now let's go home.' We have to have the mentality that we have to win every game that we can." Williams said.
On the other hand, things might have been different for Lakers if their star forward-centre Pau Gasol had not struggled in the first two games. Gasol finished the night
with 8 points in both the meetings after playing for more than 36 minutes in each.

In addition to Gasol, Kobe Bryant also needs to recover from a horrendous shooting night in the last encounter. Kobe lost his magic on Wednesday night and went only 3-of-11
from the field, finishing with 11 points. Even though the Andrew Bynum, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom picked up the slack and the Lakers survived Pau’s 2-of-10 shooting and Kobe’s slumber, the duo has to lift its game on form Friday night. If they can do that,
the odds will be heavily in their favour.

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