New Orleans Hornets vs. Los Angeles Lakers, First Half Report: NBA Playoffs-Game 2
The Los Angeles Lakers, two times NBA defending champions, jumped into the Staples Center against the New Orleans Hornets on April 20th, 2011, with a goal to retain their 2-0 series lead.
The game commenced with the ball jumped between Emeka Okafor and Pau Gasol of the New Orleans Hornets and Los Angeles Lakers, respectively. Gasol gained possession of the ball for the Lakers. Taking the first step for his team, Ron Artest came forward to
pin a layup that he missed and Gasol was also unable to get the first clinch of the game as he attempted to rebound the ball. Carl Landry of New Orleans got hold of the ball and posted the first shot of the game, 2-0. The Lakers followed with three shots in
a row, breaking the ice, scoring 5-4 at the 9:23 mark of the first quarter. Andrew Bynum made a layup for the Lakers after Trevor Ariza pinned a tip shot for the Hornets. Then forth, the Hornets went on a 12-2 run to dominate the opposition by nine points,
20-11. In response, the Lakers got back to their feet to negate the 9 point deficit. Artest stomped forward to clinch a shot from the long range and Bynum’s turnaround shot were the first two shots of the 12-3 run that the Lakers exhibited before tying the
scores at 23-23 at the end of the first quarter.
Aaron Gray gave his second turnover at the beginning of the second quarter and Matt Barnes clinch the shot after the possession, breaking the tie to give Lakers a 2 point lead, 25-23. Lamar Odom flew past the Hornets to post a layup, increasing the pressure
on the Hornets who were leading the Lakers earlier in the first quarter. Jarrett Jack ran ahead to chip in a jump shot for the Hornets and Gray blocked Gasol’s jump shot followed by a number of missed shots from Hornets end of the court. Barnes resurged and
pushed ahead to drive a layup to score 29-25 with 9:49 on the clock to go.
The Lakers survived the second stanza excellently, notching every possible shot while exhibiting a good defense against the Hornets. They were leading the Hornets by 10 points, 43-33, with three minutes 15 seconds left in intermission. In the final two minutes,
the Hornets increased their defense to restrict the Lakers from scoring while they pinned two straight three-pointers to cut the deficit short, 41-47, as they went into the locker room.
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