Kemba Leads the Charlotte Hornets to a Second Half Comeback Over the Lakers

Kemba Walker‘s near triple-double led the Charlotte Hornets to a huge comeback victory over the Los Angeles Lakers after trailing by as many as 19.

The Charlotte Hornets (16-13) were able to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers (11-20) as they fought back to complete an incredible comeback victory. Kemba Walker led the team to their second consecutive win with a near triple-double in this one. Nicolas Batum‘s clutch shots down the stretch helped secure the win.

The Lakers came out strong. They started the night by scoring 41 points in the first quarter then following it up with a 31 point second period. Their 73-point first half performance was Los Angeles’ most points scored in any half since 2014. Charlotte played absolutely no defense in the first half but the second half turned out to be a different story as Steve Clifford finally got through to his side.

Turning Point

After giving up back to back buckets to start the third quarter, Coach Clifford called a quick timeout not even a minute into the period. He pushed the right buttons as that sparked the Hornets to go on a 15-0 run and a 28-6 run in total. They outscored the Lakers 35-23 in the third and were even able to take the lead.

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LA grabbed the lead back for most of the fourth quarter but Charlotte’s execution late was the difference maker. Nic Batum came up huge as he hit the game-winning shot with 13 seconds left and the team completed the 19-point comeback with a win at home.

Who Stepped Up:

Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 28 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds as he almost finished with a triple-double. Batum was right behind him with 23 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds. Marvin Williams added 15 points while Marco Belinelli scored 13 off the bench.

Cody Zeller and Frank Kaminsky each scored 11 in this one.

Jordan Clarkson led Los Angeles with 25 points and a career-high seven made three-pointers. Nick Young (SwaggyP) scored 24. The Lakers had four other players in double figures as their whole team was on fire offensively for most of the night.

Highlight of the Game:

Tweet of the Game:

This was the timeout that sparked the run.

With the win, the Hornets improved to 1-0 on the season over the Lakers. The two teams will meet a total of two times this year with their next and final matchup coming on February 28th. Even though they are in different conferences, Charlotte has asserted their dominance over LA by winning four straight games dating back to 2014.

In their next game, the Charlotte Hornets will host the Chicago Bulls in their first meeting of the season. After winning the season series 3-1 last year, Steve Clifford’s side will look to get off to a good start against Dwyane Wade and the new look team from the Windy City. Charlotte will look to extend their win streak to three games in that one.