New Orleans Hornets (2-4) at Los Angeles Lakers (5-1), 9:30 p.m.

By By Sports Network | The Sports Network

Comments (0) |

E-Mail

Text Size:

tool goes here

The reeling New Orleans Hornets kick off a tough, three- game road trip Sunday by facing the reigning NBA Champion LA Lakers at Staples Center.

The Hornets fell to 2-4 on the season Friday in the Big Easy when Toronto's Chris Bosh poured in a game-high 27 points and the Raptors handled the Hornets, 107-90.

Chris Paul was the only offensive factor for New Orleans, finishing with 21 points and 18 assists. Bobby Brown and David West scored 16 and 14 points, respectively, for the Hornets, who were coming off an OT win over Dallas on Wednesday.

"What I thought during the third quarter, especially in the third quarter and in the whole second half, there was a lack of energy. I just didn't see the energy," Hornets head coach Byron Scott said.

New Orleans, which is 0-3 on the road this season, will also visit the Clippers and Phoenix on its trek.

The short-handed Lakers, meanwhile, opened a three-game homestand in positive fashion Friday when Kobe Bryant was 19-of-30 shooting for his second consecutive 41- point game and third in four contests amidst yet another record-setting night, as the Lakers pounded Memphis 114-98.

Bryant became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 24,000 points, passed veteran guard Allen Iverson -- now with the Grizzlies -- for 16th place on the all-time scoring list and notched his 99th career game with 40-plus points.

"It's a great honor, I think back to all the years I've played here. I learned a lot from the guys before me," said Bryant, who was quicker to 24,000 points by 38 days over the great Wilt Chamberlain.

There were others on the court for Los Angeles, which won its fourth in a row to move to 5-1 on the season. Ron Artest added 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds and Derek Fisher checked in with 11 points and seven helpers.

Josh Powell had a solid game off the bench with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

All-Star forward Pau Gasol (strained right hamstring), who hasn't played this season, and center Andrew Bynum (strained right elbow) were sidelined for the Lakers. Both players could be back tonight.

LA, which took three of four games from the Hornets last season, will finish its residency vs. Phoenix on Nov. 12.

About comments

Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.

What you should know about comments on SanLuisObispo.com

SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.

Here are some rules of the road:

Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and leave him a public message.
Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.