Lakers vs. Hornets Preview and Game Thread: A long homestand ahead
The Lakers look to bounce back from one of their worst losses of the season against a struggling Hornets team on Thursday
The Lakers are back home where they will play seven of their next eight games starting Thursday when they host LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets.
This will be the first time these two teams have met this season. The purple and gold are coming off a two-game losing streak, while the Hornets just defeated the Phoenix Suns at home.
Start time and TV schedule
Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets
When: 7:30 p.m. PT, Jan 9
Where: Crypto.com Arena
Watch: Spectrum Sportsnet
The Lakers badly fumbled on their trip to Texas, where they missed the opportunity to add two victories to the win column.
The loss to the Rockets can be deemed excusable since they showed some fight in that 22-point comeback and genuinely struggle against young athletic teams.
However, the nasty defeat to the Mavs, who were without Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving was unacceptable.
This loss to Dallas is one of the worst of the season and easily the ugliest of 2025.
Klay Thompson went on a solo 9-0 run to end the half and Austin Reaves was constantly attacked in isolation and could not prevent the Mavs from scoring. After the game, even Lakers head coach JJ Redick had no idea why the team couldn't defend at all.
L.A. will have to quickly move on and play a young and competitive team in the Hornets, who have nothing to lose at this point given how their season has gone.
Yes, I'm aware that I used the word "competitive" even though they've only won eight games this season. However, given how the Lakers played in these last two games, it's hard to predict whether or not they will approach this one seriously from the start.
Hopefully, playing at home will energize them a little bit more and they come out with a better focus than they’ve had in their previous two games.
Charlotte lives and dies with one of the craftiest and most athletic guards in the league, LaMelo Ball. In fact, they depend on Ball's brilliance so much that they rank second to last in the league in points average per game at 106.1. Besides Ball, the rest of the Hornets roster struggles offensively.
Hopefully, the purple and gold don’t allow Brandon Miller or Miles Bridges to have a standout performance in this game and pull off an upset.
To ensure that doesn’t happen, Anthony Davis has to return to feasting inside the paint while everyone follows his lead. This Hornets team is also a good rebounding squad, so L.A. needs to make sure they win that rebounding battle.
This contest should be treated as another get-right game because if the Lakers lose three winnable games in a row, this would easily be considered a horrible stretch.
Let's see if Los Angeles bounces back against Charlotte on Thursday.
Notes and Updates
- Due to the wildfires currently happening in Los Angeles, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the NBA, together with the Lakers and Hornets, are monitoring the status of this game. The priority is the safety of everyone in the city as well as the city itself.
- The Lakers list Anthony Davis (left ankle sprain) and LeBron James (left foot injury management) as probable and Cam Reddish (low back soreness) as questionable.
- Jalen Hood-Schifino (left hamstring strain), Jarred Vanderbilt (right foot surgery recovery) and Christian Wood (left knee surgery recovery) are all out.
- In case you missed it, it seems Jarred Vanderbilt will make his return to the court very soon. You can read all about that here.
- For the Hornets, their injury report states that Tre Mann (disc irritation) and Grant Williams (ACL recovery) are out.
- We will be live on Playback for this game, so be sure to join us!
You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.