The New Orleans Hornets have been one of the best defensive teams in the NBA this season. On Tuesday night, they'll get a good barometer of how good they really are when they host the league's top scoring team - the Los Angeles Lakers.
New Orleans (16-7) is seeking its season-high fifth straight win following a 99-90 home victory over Sacramento on Saturday. Chris Paul, the Western Conference player of the week, scored a season-best 34 points with nine assists and eight steals, also a season high. He has at least one steal in an NBA-record 107 consecutive games.The Hornets had 11 steals in all, and scored 25 points off 18 Sacramento turnovers.
"We were smothering the ball screens," said Paul, who had 30 points and 13 assists in a 93-86 home loss to the Lakers on Nov. 12.
The Hornets have not allowed more than 94 points in any of their last eight games, improving their average points allowed for the season to 91.5 - third-fewest in the NBA. The Lakers, meanwhile, are scoring a league-best 107.3 points per game.
"All the talk is about the Lakers, Celtics and Cleveland, and rightfully so," said New Orleans coach Byron Scott, whose team has won 11 of its last 13 games. "We are getting better and better each month, and that's the important thing."
James Posey definitely has been improving, averaging 15.5 points - well above his 9.9 season average - and shooting 68.8 percent from the field during the Hornets' four-game winning streak. He missed Monday's practice with a slight calf sprain, but is expected to play on Tuesday.
Peja Stojakovic has missed the last two games with back spasms, but could return after going through a limited practice on Monday.
While the Hornets go for their seventh straight win at New Orleans Arena, Los Angeles (22-5) will try for back-to-back wins to conclude its four-game road trip. The Lakers avoided a third straight loss Monday, defeating Memphis 105-96. Kobe Bryant scored 10 of his 36 points in the final 3:08 as Los Angeles erased a 93-88 deficit.
"We know what we want to do," said Bryant, averaging 38.5 points and shooting 51.9 percent in his last two games. "For a young team, they are still kind of searching for what that identity is going to be. For us, we've been there, done that. So, it's just a matter of how well we executed."
Bryant missed 10 of 15 shots and scored just 20 points against the Hornets in November, but hit a critical 3-pointer with 1:08 remaining to stop a 17-4 New Orleans run.
Third-year guard Jordan Farmar won't be available off the Los Angeles bench for awhile. Farmar tore his lateral meniscus in last Friday's 89-87 loss to Miami and may need surgery.
"We're not happy about it, obviously, but this is what we go through in an NBA season," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.
