Lamar Odom scored 24 points in his return to the bench and Kobe Bryant added 20 as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 103-88 road victory over the New Orleans Hornets.
Center Andrew Bynum returned to the starting lineup and added 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting in 30 minutes for the two-time defending champion Lakers, who had dropped their three previous games to Milwaukee, Miami and San Antonio by a combined 50 points while averaging just over 80 points.
Los Angeles made 23-of-34 shots in the first half and got 11 points apiece from Bryant and Odom in building a 59-41 lead The Lakers pushed the lead to 23 points after three period and coasted home, shooting 59 percent overall and improving to 5-1 in the second of back-to-back games.
Los Angeles (22-10) will play six of its next seven games at home, facing only two opponents with winning records.
Chris Paul scored 15 of his 20 points in the first half for New Orleans, which has dropped 13 of 20 since an 11-1 start.
The Hornets' usually stingy defense put up a second straight subpar performance. They allowed a season-high 113 points and 53 percent shooting in a loss to Minnesota on Monday.
L.A. Lakers | New Orleans | |
Lamar Odom 24 | Scoring | Chris Paul 20 |
Derek Fisher 8 | Assists | Chris Paul 7 |
Pau Gasol 12 | Rebounds | Emeka Okafor 7 |
Pau Gasol 5 | Free Throws Made | Marco Belinelli 6 |
Derek Fisher 3 | Steals | Chris Paul 3 |
Matt Barnes 1 | Blocks | David Andersen 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
L.A. Lakers | 103 | 58.6 | 5-17 | 16-20 | 25 | 44 | 3 | 7 | 21 |
New Orleans | 88 | 41.8 | 4-16 | 18-22 | 18 | 24 | 4 | 8 | 15 |