All night long, Julius Randle did just about everything for the Lakers. But the starting power forward found himself at a disadvantage in the fourth quarter when he was switched onto All-Star point guard Kemba Walker for several possessions.
Walker took advantage, scoring 11 points in the fourth to rally the Charlotte Hornets to a 109-104 win in spite of a monster night from Randle, who packaged together 23 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks.
“A lot of that was on me,” Randle said of Walker’s success. “I made some mistakes when switching out on him. I remember a play when he gave the ball up, I stopped and he went to the corner and hit a 3. Some of that’s on me. I’ve got to take the blame for some of that, but he made tough shots.”
Randle was a huge reason that the Lakers (19-42) held a late lead to begin with, having shot 10-of-14 from the field while staying active in just about every phase of the game.
When the Hornets (26-34) took a 46-36 lead midway through the second quarter, Randle provided two baskets and an assist during Los Angeles’ responding 10-0 spurt.
Then it was Tarik Black’s turn in the third quarter, as he scored all 11 of his points in that frame while also soaring for the game’s highlight slam. Meanwhile, Charlotte shot just 8-of-25 as the Lakers seized a two-point advantage heading to the fourth.
The teams kept it close from there, with Jordan Clarkson’s layup taking the lead at 98-97 with only two minutes remaining.
But then Walker went to work, knocking down a 3-pointer before kicking out to Marvin Williams for another triple. Frank Kaminsky added free throws to push Charlotte’s edge to 105-98 in the final minute.
Though D’Angelo Russell hit a deep two-pointer and a trey of his own to make it close, the Lakers were unable to fully reel in the Hornets, who won a franchise-record fifth straight game over L.A.
Walker — whose team had lost 13 of its last 15 games — was the centerpiece of this, leading all players with 30 points and five 3-pointers.
“We had some miscommunications that allowed him to kind of walk to the rim,” Russell said. “But I feel like we contained him throughout the game. Late in the fourth he kind of did what All-Stars in this league do.”
Russell held his own and added onto a strong week by matching Walker’s five triples.
Russell — who scored a dozen points in the first quarter — finished with 23 points and nine assists. But the focus of head coach Luke Walton was on Randle, who said that he made an emphasis to not overthink the game as he has the tendency to do.
Walton was particularly happy with how hard Randle played without being asked to be taken out at the six-minute mark.
“We have been challenging him in practice to do everything at that tempo so he can start pushing through this wall — his limit as far as conditioning and having to play when you are that fatigued,” Walton said. “He’s been committed to doing it and I think it showed tonight.”
Notes
The Lakers outscored the Hornets in the paint, 56-30, and on fast-breaks, 22-5. … Kaminsky had 24 points and 12 rebounds for Charlotte. … Nick Young scored 15 points, all of which came on 3-pointers. … D-Fenders call-up David Nwaba made his NBA debut and had one rebound in five minutes. ... A crowd of 18,997 sold out Staples Center.