Anthony Davis triple-double ignites the Lakers in Charlotte to the win

The Lakers(27-25) ended 4-2 on their road trip with D’Angelo Russell scoring 28 points and LeBron James adding 26 points to give them some much-needed momentum.

“We can defeat every side in this league if we set our minds to it,” Davis declared. “We won two that the people in Nevada believed we should have lost, and we lost two that we felt we should have won.” We are a difficult club to beat when we play the proper way and put our heads down defensively.

There’s still uncertainty about whether the Lakers, who won the In-Season Tournament, will be the same club when they play again on Thursday night following the NBA trade deadline.

LeBron James reluctant to discuss possible trade deadline moves:

“This is who we hold, so there’s nothing further to talk about.”

James said, “That’s not a query for me,” in response to the topic of whether the Lakers have the roster to win the NBA championship. The locker room is great, and that’s all I’m concerned about. Not that I get sucked into it, where it’s like, ‘I can’t stand you.’

The Hornets, who have lost eight straight games since moving Terry Rozier to Miami, were led by youngster Brandon Miller, who scored 33 points with five 3-pointers, and career-high 41 points from Miles Bridges.

Miller became the first rookie in Hornets history to score at least 30 points in consecutive games after scoring a career-high 35 points in a loss to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night.

Miller remarked, “I think that reflects huge confidence.” “I have to give my teammates credit for showing up every day and helping me boost the confidence I need to take the shots that I do in critical situations like tonight in front of the crowd in full swing. It’s not just me; it’s truly all of my teammates. I wouldn’t have taken those photographs if it weren’t for them.”

Thanks to 22 points from Russell and 17 from James, the Lakers shot 64% from the field in the first half and had a 74-58 advantage going into the locker room. Lakers dominant first half lead gave them a momentum towards victory going into second half. There were only 4 lead changes during the game which shows Lakers dominated most part of the game.

In the first half, James had multiple highlight-worthy moments. He drove past P.J. Washington and made a three-point play by dunking above 7-foot center Nick Richards. In addition to feeding Davis for an alley-oop slam, James had another baseline drive for a spectacular two-handed jam.

36 assists were made by the Lakers.

The Hornets, who are sorely deficient in height due to the absence of center Mark Williams due to a back ailment, were unable to restrain Davis.

Regarding the double teams that Davis has encountered and defeated, Lakers coach Darvin Ham remarked, “He’s seen just about everything.” “Just the film analysis, the breakdowns we experience, his speaking up, his communication about what he’s seeing, and where he expects guys to be placed in order to make the correct reads.” You see the best outcomes since he has been doing all of his assigned schoolwork.

Darvin Ham on what this 4-2 road trip taught the Lakers about themselves:

“Just having that self-confidence. If difficulty arises, we are able to overcome it. We will not disembark and get back home. We are here to fight.”

Later in the third quarter, Christian Wood made a 3-pointer and then dunked off an Austin Reaves assist to give Los Angeles a 21-point advantage.

However, Miller would lead the Hornets by a game, scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter. With only two minutes left, the No. 2 pick in the draft trimmed the Lakers advantage to four points after he intercepted a pass from Reaves and raced the length of the court for a slam.

Charlotte had an opportunity to cut the deficit to one possession, but Reaves scored two free throws and Davis tipped Bridges’ step-back 3-point attempt to extend the margin to six points and secure the victory.

Bridges made 16 of 26 field goals, including five threes.

Lakers outscored Hornets in the paint with huge 78 points compared to Hornets 52 points. Lakers were also ahead in fast break points with 19 points to 14 points from Hornets. Lakers lead in second chance points with 8 points to 3 points from Hornets.

D’Angelo Russell:

“I have no control over my contract which makes sense to be traded, so i just want to play. Once again, I don’t worry, at all.”

Lakers are now 9th seed in Western Conference with 27-25 record. https://x.com/NBA/status/1754734165214232934?s=20

Lakers will host the Nuggets on Thursday night.

Hornets will host the Raptors on Wednesday night, this is their third home game in four nights.