Pau Gasol stars as Los Angeles Lakers rally to edge out the New Orleans Hornets 93-91: NBA Recap
Pau Gasol had 25 points and 9 rebounds and led the Los Angeles Lakers to a narrow victory over the New Orleans Hornets. The Lakers were playing without Kobe Bryant, who missed his second consecutive game due to a sore left shin.
However, the Lakers were able to pull one up on New Orleans, winning 93-91. Ramon Sessions added 17 points and 6 assists for the Lakers. Marco Belinelli scored 20 points for the Hornets.
Both teams fought hard in the 1st quarter, with the maximum lead gained by any team only 5 points. The Lakers finished the 1st leading 21-19.
The 2nd quarter was close in the beginning, and a jump shot by Carl Landry with 7:40 left in the half tied the game 29-29. The Lakers suddenly got a wakeup call after this tie, going on an 11-2 run to lead by 40-31 with 3:47 left in the half. The Hornets, however, were not in the mood of stepping down or being intimidated by the Lakers. They responded the Lakers charge with a 10-2 run of their own, started and then finished by 3 pointer from Greivis Vasquez. Vasquez’s second 3 pointer brought the Hornets back to within 1 of the Lakers, and a jump shot by Kaman gave the Hornets a 43-42 lead with seconds left in the half.
Hornets would have been happy and motivated leading the game going into half time. However, Pau Gasol denied them that peace of mind when he sunk a buzzer beating jumper to give Lakers the 44-43 lead at the end of the 1st half.
The third quarter begun with 5 quick lead changes, as no team was ready to let the other run away with a lead. New Orleans extended their lead to 63-56 after a jump shot by Vasquez followed by a dunk and then a fade away by Landry. A 3 pointer by Vasquez a few seconds later took the Hornets lead to 66-58. They held on to their lead to finish the 3rd quarter leading 72-65.
The Lakers tried hard to force their way back in the fourth and Andrew Bynum’s layup with 5:41 remaining in the match reduced the Hornets lead to 81-77. Belinelli scored a three pointer to extend the lead to 7 again before Steve Blake replied with a three of his own. It was followed by a layup by Gasol after Landry missed his jump shot. All of a sudden, the Lakers were back within 2 with 4:28 left on the clock.
LAL continued to mount the pressure on the Hornets and finally took back the lead late in the 4th quarter with a 3 pointer by Metta World Peace. Sessions followed with another long range missile with only 26 seconds left in the game to give L.A the definitive 6 point lead.
Vasquez replied with a crunch time 3 pointer but the Lakers held on to win 93-91.
Pau Gasol was impressive for L.A. He was however only 5 of 9 from the foul line. Andrew Bynum had a good night yet again, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Ramon Sessions stepped up in the absence of Kobe, scoring 17 points, dishing 6 assists, and going a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line.
He also hit a crunch time 3 pointer and truly took Kobe’s place in his absence. Marco Belinelli was the tied top scorer for the Hornets with 20 points. Carl Landry had an amazing night for New Orleans, coming off the bench to score 20 points on 8-of12 shooting, and grabbed 11 rebounds as well. Chris Kaman had 16 points and 5 blocks for the night.
The Hornets had a great shooting night, going 45% from the field, 60% from the 3 point line and 100% from the foul line. They shot better than L.A from the 3 point and foul line. The Hornets also took 15 three point attempts, 5 more than L.A, as they looked confident on the court.
However, L.A with their combination of Gasol and Bynum, dominated the glass. They outscored the Hornets 46-35 in rebounds and 42-28 in points inside the paint.
The Lakers, with this win, move two wins clear of the L.A Clippers in the Western Conference. They are currently at third spot. They win also broke their two game losing streak. New Orleans are at the bottom of the Western Conference with the worst win-loss record.
Tags: