2:00- Peja gets open for a three, as Vlad is late in closing.  Brings NO to within two, at 19-17.  Farmar and Walton in for LA for Fish and Rad.  Jordan comes out gunning, but misses his first three.  Before the game, it was interesting to watch him watch film with Jim Cleamons.  They looked a lot at where Paul sets up to initiate the offense, and Cleamons emphasized picking him up earlier, to minimize the penetration he gets, and make Paul work harder for space.

1:00- David West hits a little jumper over LO.  Walton comes back on the other end with a layup, but Ely gets an offensive board and scores. That's three straight possessions where the Hornets have been able to get the ball down low for easy points.  A lob to Wells, the shot for Wells, and the Ely shot.  That gives them six points quick, enough to finish the first quarter with a 23-21 lead.

END OF THE FIRST- LA down by two.  What was a good defensive effort early in the quarter turned south over the last five or six minutes.  The Hornets pushed a sub 35% FG percentage up into the forties, and on the other end, the Lakers didn't do much.  A 14-7 early lead went away pretty fast.

SECOND QUARTER-

LO starts things off with a good jumper.  I should mention we're right behind the scorer's table, which provides an interesting perspective.  Especially of Joey Crawford.  Not a handsome man.

NEWS ON PAU- X Rays are negative.  So that's good news.

10:00- Big minutes with the seconds versus the seconds.  Right now, the Hornets are getting the most of that battle. 

27 up after a Walton layup on a nice feed along the baseline from Farmar. 

8:40- Two bad shots in one possession for LA.  First Farmar goes for a jumper early in the clock without really working the O, then after LO got the rebound, Luke bricked a turnaround off the glass.  On the next trip down, LO bails out the Lakers again, getting the board off a Turiaf shot and taking it back to the hole, and drawing the foul. 

29-27, NO.

Great little timout program.  The Hornets bee has these three little kids trailing him, in matching Hornets bee costumes.  One takes out a little wand and spanks the ref with it.  Thankfully, Zach Zarba plays along, rather than smacking the little girl.  Adorable.

LO makes both FTs, and at the eight minute mark the Lakers are tied at 29.

6:32- I might be too short to sit courtside.

Great move by Ronny, up and under, doesn't pay off as the ball rattles in and out.  Still, he made a great move on an excellent defender with the shot clock running down.  Good to see him play with confidence down low.  On the next trip down, after blocking a shot, Luke makes a great feed to Vladdy, who draws the foul for the and one.  It's been another pretty strong game for Walton, who has made some buckets, and also moved the ball. 

5:40- Vlad collects a loose ball, then buries a triple.  Lakers up by one, 37-36. 

Lakers need to secure the boards.  Chandler slips away from and puts the ball back in.  Too easy.  Six offensive boards for the Hornets thus far.

Timeout on the floor.  Lakers up 37-36.  The Lakers are getting a lot of contributions from secondary sources tonight with Gasol out of the game.  Eight for Rad, six for Walton.  LO currently leads the way with 10 points, to go along with six boards.  They're going to have to continue to move the all well and create good looks... which they do out of the TO, as Kobe hits a cutting Vlad from the post, but Vlad blows the layup. 

Kobe and Fish back in the game.

3:30- Walton called for a foul against Chandler in the post, which has Phil off the bench and pissed.  Can't say I blame him, since I wasn't sure where the foul was, either. 

3:11- Kobe's on the line after a penetrating and-one (three times in a row the Lakers have moved the ball/themselves well to get clean looks.  Kobe continues to work Peterson in the post. 

2:40- Timeout on the floor, and they're playing human tic-tac-toe on the court.  Guys run, make a bucket, get an x or an o, then leave it on a big grid at halfcourt.  This is not a game for the litigious, as the guys have each fallen and also run into each other.

Phil continued to work the officials over the Walton call about a minute ago.  He didn't like that one at all. 

Every time Paul scores, they play a "Wooo!" clip, and the crowd responds with a "woo!" of their own.  Fun stuff.

2:00- Tough assignment for Luke defensively, as he's on Chandler,who is going to be tough for Walton to keep off the glass.  With LO on West, though, there's not much else the Lakers can do.  Vlad can't guard him either. 

1:15- LA 46, NO 43. 

:50- Paul picks off a Fish entry pass, then starts the break.  The Lakers catch a break when Peja misses the three in the corner.  Paul is a very underappreciated and tenacious defender (and player generally).  He's very active, generates steals, and does it without taking a lot of chances to do it.  On the other end, draws two fouls on Fish in about 15 seconds.  The first a block and a foul on the floor, the second an and-one in the lane. That's three on Fish.

:06- Fish comes back with a triple on the far end, hopefully cracking a shooting slump for the evening (he's now 2-8).

HALFTIME- Lakers up 49-46.  Very fast paced game without a lot of stoppages.  Fun stuff.  The Lakers are playing solid defensively, and are starting to do a better job moving the ball around.  They've planted Kobe in the high post to let him operate, and are also getting a lot of mileage out of Walton moving the basketball.  They've missed some chippies, but then again, so have the Hornets.  But the Lakers are doing a decent job. Paul has 10/8 and has made some great plays, but they've kept some pressure on Stojakovic (2-11), and haven't let West hurt them (2-7, four points overall.  More importantly, they're not giving the Hornets anything from the line.  No cheap fouls.  NO has only taken two FTs over the first 24. 

Overall, given the circumstances (road game against elite team, Gasol injury) things are going well. 

More to come.

THIRD QUARTER:

Turiaf starts for the injured Gasol.

A Mo Pete layup and a Paul triple give the Hornets a two point lead a minute into the half.  That shot was worth three woos! from the Hornets crowd.

9:57- Vlad gets hung up on a screen in front of Peja, who drills the three.  Phil calls a timeout, Lakers down by five.  He can't be happy with the D early in the quarter.  Nothing but open looks for the Hornets. 

I'm sure they're really nice girls, but the Hornets Dance Team is not among the league's more impressive.  They really shouldn't win the Dance Team playoffs they're running on NBA.com right now. 

Crawford calls Paul for a block on Fish coming out of the backcourt.  I can tell you with certainty that LA is not the only city where Joey Crawford is unloved.

7:10- Hornets up four after a Kobe three. 60-56.

6:58- Double T called on both Chandler and Turiaf, who tangled it up after a Chandler dunk.  The Lakers are starting to lose control of this one, giving Paul a lot of space to work, and letting the secondary players get into the flow. 

6:31- Crowd all over Crawford, who makes a late call on a Kobe triple, saying Bonzi hit him on the hand.  Bonzi handled it well, smiling and saying, "I don't know," over and over.  Good for him, since he's not going to win that argument.  Kobe makes all three, and it's 62-59 NO. 

5:38- Fish ends up on Wells, after he was very likely mugged coming off the defensive glass with the ball, giving the rock back to the Hornets. Then, he pokes the ball away after Paul finds the mismatch and Wells is working to the hoop.  Foul.  That's four on Fish.

Wells misses the second but the Hornets get another offensive board.

Farmar in for Fish.

5:20- Great decision by LO to slow the play down off a NO turnover.  He had Turiaf in the lane as he was working in from the wing, but wisely chose to slow it up and feed a trailing Kobe, who hit a wide open three.  Ties the game at 65.  Good work from Lamar, who is having a very solid game.

3:29- Joey Crawford is going to need an escort out of here tonight.  But you could the say the same most nights.  Pargo in for Wells, who picks up his fourth. Sasha gets up to check in, likely for Turiaf or Vlad, but he's a little late.

3:18- Kobe whistled for a reaching foul on Paul, and does something you rarely see- agrees with the ref. 71-69 New Orleans.

2:16- Timeout Hornets, up 73-70.  The Lakers are hanging in, but momentum has definitely swung the other way.  They're having more and more trouble containing Paul, and keeping the Hornets from getting easy looks.  A Paul to Wells lob, a great feed off a screen, attention drawn in the lane that when he missed a shot, there was nobody there to box out Chandler, who had about eleven chances to put the ball in. 

Walton in off the TO, with Farmar, Sasha, Kobe, and LO.

Big offensive rebound for Walton, giving the Lakers another chance, which they turn into two after a Farmar teardrop in the lane.  Walton on Chandler again, which is a tough matchup. But it's looking like the ankle is feeling better, because he's elevating.

Paul hits a three.  Three woos! from the Hornets crowd.  I kinda like that thing they do.  Then Paul picks up a loose ball foul on Kobe, putting them over the limit and the Hornets at the line.

He makes one of two, and with :50 to go, the Hornets are back up to a six point lead, 78-72.

Chandler just drilled LO  after his dunk, no call from Crawford.  Clearly Odom isn't happy about it. 

END OF THE THIRD, Hornets up 80-72.   Definitely a  Hornets quarter, as they outscored the Lakers  34-23.  Paul really exerted his influence on that 12 minute stretch.  10 points, five dimes, two steals.  That's pretty good.   The Lakers are going to have to figure out a way to slow him down again, and keep the clamps on West, who had a much better quarter, and Chandler, who is very active around the offensive glass. 

The crowd is extremely loud right now.

FOURTH QUARTER:

Walton pokes the ball away from West, and Farmar converts on the other end.  Lakers get the first points of the quarter, then force another TO, and Sasha buries a three.  Five straight for the Lakers to start the quarter.  Wait, I think that was a two. 

Julian Wright hits a three of his own, and the Hornets are back up by seven. 

10:26- 83-76 NO.  Lakers turn the ball over, and Walton fouls Paul in the backcourt to prevent the fast break.

8:51- Lakers back to within eight after a Farmar three, but the Hornets get it right back on the other end, as Pargo is wide open. The Lakers have no cohesion defensively right now. 

Sasha hits a three, and then Wright responds with one of his own.  Kobe again left him open. 

7:47- Paul gets out on the break, and the Hornets finish with an easy lob to Ely.  You could see that coming from a mile away.  I think it was a three on one.  Nobody home for the Lakers in transition. They're going to be on the wrong end of this one if they can't get some stops... and right now, it doesn't look like they're gonna get any stops.  That bee at center court is pretty damn peppy right now.  OVerall, they're really in to Bee related puns here.  Un-bee-levable.  Bee-fense.  That sort of thing.

Bad shot from Sasha, who tried to force a three with a hand in his face, almost resulted in an easy runout for Pargo. 

The Lakers also need to try and generate better looks on the offensive end.  If they start bombing away to try and get the lead shrunken down, they're gonna get run outo f the building.  There's still time to run the O.

Hornets up 94-82, and the place is really, really loud.  LO back in on the TO, with Turiaf, Vlad, Farmar, Sasha.

5:14- Timeout on the floor, Hornets up by 15 after a Peja three on a tap out from the Hornets after a Wright miss.  Phil  puts Kobe back on the floor coming out of the TO, along with Fish. He's out there with Farmar, to counter Pargo and Paul.  Sasha wasn't doing much. 

4:22- Farmar makes the extra pass on the perimeter, to Fish who buries the three.  Not a particularly noteworthy play, except that he hasn't been doing that enough lately.  JF's been a little shot happy as of late.  A Kobe deuce makes it a ten point game.

Fish is obliterated by a Chandler back pick, then rolls in for an easy layup.  Same thing the next time down, as this time Kobe gets killed on the back screen from Chandler as Paul spins away.  He draws a foul on Rad, and will shoot two.

The MVP chants for CP3 are loooooooouuuuud.  Interesting to hear them for another player. 

2:31- 104-93 NOH.  Doesn't look good.  The Lakers need points, but more improtantly, they need stops.  They're having a lot of trouble getting them, although in NO's first trip after the TO, they get one.

2:00- same score. 

Great pass from Kobe, drawing the double and hitting Vlad underneath for the easy bucket. 

1:26- Lakers down by nine, 104-95.  Pargo at the line, makes one of two, now a ten point lead.

Kobe blows by Wright in the lane to cut it to eight, but Crawford calls a reach on Kobe trying to get the turnover off Pargo on the inbound.  That's five, and sends Pargo back to the line.  If he makes these- and he makes the first- it's pretty much a done deal.  Four possession game.   And he does.

:22.6- Vlad fouls Paul on his way up the court, why, I'm not sure.  But it does give the crowd a chance to get into more MVP chants, and some dude in the upper deck to unfurl his "Chris Paul #3 MVP" sign.  So that's nice. 

FINAL SCORE: 108-98 Hornets.  The Lakers were simply overwhelmed in the second half.  The Hornets killed them on the boards, killed them in transition, and shut down the Lakers offense.  28-20 on the boards.  More to come in a few...

BK