The Lakers definitely were not content with their current set of games at home, however they will be on the road away from their home court now until after the All Star break.
Not that winning will be any simpler on a tough 7 game journey away from home that starts Saturday evening at the New Orleans Arena vs. the Hornets.
The Hornets have picked up 6 consecutive & 11 of 13 on their home court, however they will be not having 2 hurt starters as they attempt to prevent dropping a 3rd consecutive during the year series with the Lakers.
The current League champs have suffered a few surprisingly hard streaks this year, which includes a 1 - 3 close to their just finished 5 game set on their home-court.
An OT victory against the Rockets had been the Lakers' only win in that period, which which includes an upset defeat to the Kings & a 109 - 96 loss during a League finals re-match with the Celtics.
The Spurs took out the Lakers ( 34 - 16 ) at Staples on Thursday 89-88 as Antonio McDyess tipped in a buck as time expired off an offensive board.
Sloppy shooting has been 1 culprit for Los Angeles, which has nailed only 42.7 % of their shots during their previous 3 defeats, which includes a worst for the year 2 of 14 from beyond the arc versus the Spurs.
Kobe, However, stated a few defeats are not necessarily a horrible thing.
This journey away from home might do the same. With the Grammy Awards occupying Staples Center till the All Star game there February 20th, Los Angeles will play 7 consecutive away from home games, the 1st 5 versus competitors with above.500 records.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson stated he is to see how his club fares.
The Lakers have picked up 9 of their previous twelve games away from home, which includes a convincing 103 - 88 victory at the New Orleans Arena vs. the Hornets on December 29th.
They additionally defeated the Hornets 101 - 97 on their home court January 7th, their 8th victory in 10 matchups. Sloppy shooting has not been a issue versus New Orleans ( 32 - 19 ) this year, having the Lakers throwing up better than 50 % in both wins & Lamar Odom nailing 18 of 30 from the floor to average 20.5 points.
On the defensive end, they kept New Orleans' David West to 8 points during the 1st game & Chris Paul to twelve during the 2nd.
Los Angeles is 15 - 1 this year when they put in a minimum of half their attempts, & the Hornets may have even more issue equaling up with the Lakers' large men not having Emeka Okafor & Trevor Ariza.
The New Orleans Front-court duo is putting in a combined 22.2 points & 15.6 boards, however Okafor is out on the bench with an oblique strain while Ariza - a ex- Laker, will probably miss about 2 weeks having a sprained ankle he sustained Wednesday at the Oklahoma City Arena vs. the Thunder.
The Hornets could not contain League scoring leader Kevin Durant in that contest, permitting him to put in 43 points & shoot 14 of 19 as the Thunder picked up a victory 104 - 93.
New Orleans, which acquired experienced Sasha Pavlovic on Friday to assist step in, has usually been stingier on their home court, permitting 87.0 Points per game within their 6 game winning run there.