Hornets at Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers look like a team angling for a better draft position with three straight losses by at least 17 points and four consecutive setbacks overall. The Charlotte Hornets, who still plan to make it to the Eastern Conference playoffs, will try to take advantage of that when they visit the Lakers on Tuesday.
Los Angeles is a half-game ahead of the Phoenix Suns in the battle to avoid the worst record in the West and did not do itself any favors in that race with a 119-98 home loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, during which it allowed 27 points off 19 turnovers. The Lakers signaled their intent to look to the future with a recent front office overhaul that included promoting Hall of Famer Magic Johnson to president of basketball operations, and the team is not making the best impression on its new boss after getting outscored 61-41 in the first half on Sunday. "I love our guys, and I'm supportive toward them," Los Angeles coach Luke Walton told reporters, according to the Los Angeles Times, "but that first half, that can't happen if we're trying to build and trying to get somewhere. That was unacceptable. ... If you're not going to compete, you're not going to give yourself a chance." The Hornets gave themselves a chance against the Clippers on Sunday but eventually fell 124-121 in overtime to suffer their 13th loss in 15 games and drop three games behind eighth-place Detroit in the East.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Southeast (Charlotte), Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE HORNETS (25-34): Charlotte is attempting to remain in the race while enduring a seven-game road trip and fell to 1-3 on the excursion with Sunday's loss, which followed an encouraging performance in a 99-85 win at Sacramento the previous night. The Hornets finish out the trip with three straight against sub-.500 teams in the Lakers, Suns and Denver Nuggets, which follows a brutal stretch through Sunday in which nine of the last 13 losses came against teams currently in the top eight of their respective conferences. All-Star point guard Kemba Walker is doing his best to keep Charlotte in the race and posted his second 34-point effort in three games since the All-Star break on Sunday while going 11-of-19 from the floor and 6-of-10 from beyond the arc.
ABOUT THE LAKERS (19-41): The main thing Johnson will be focusing on the rest of the way is whether youngsters Julius Randle, D'Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram are pieces around which the franchise can build. Ingram stumbled into the All-Star break with a total of 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting in three games but scored in double figures in each of the last two contests, including a season-high 22-point effort on 10-of-15 shooting against the Spurs on Sunday. Russell is averaging 22.7 points in the last three games while Randle is averaging 11 rebounds in those three contests but fell short of his third straight double-double with six points and 12 boards on Sunday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Hornets are still awaiting the return of starting C Cody Zeller, who remains day-to-day with a quad injury and sat out 13 of the last 14 games.
2. Lakers SG Nick Young is 6-of-27 from the floor, including 3-of-18 from beyond the arc, in the last three games.
3. Walker delivered 28 points and 10 assists in Charlotte's 117-113 home win over Los Angeles on Dec. 20.