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Lakers finish three-game road swing vs. Hornets

Jan 20, 2007 - 4:24 PM LA Lakers (26-14) at New Orleans (15-23) 8:00 pm EST

OKLAHOMA CITY (Ticker) -- Despite Kobe Bryant's best efforts, the Los Angeles Lakers have had mixed results on the road this season.

Bryant hopes to lead the Lakers to their fourth victory in five contests overall when they conclude a three-game trip Saturday against the New Orleans Hornets.

The league's fifth-leading scorer at 28.0 points per game, Bryant is averaging 34.2 points in his last six road outings. However, Los Angeles has dropped four of those games by an average of 15.3 points.

The Lakers are coming off Thursday's 114-95 loss to the Dallas Mavericks to fall to 8-10 away from home. Bryant scored 26 points on 8-of-18 shooting and rookie Jordan Farmar added 17.

Although New Orleans posted a 105-89 victory over the Lakers in their earlier meeting on December 6, Los Angeles has won seven of the past 10 encounters and has not dropped two straight games to the Hornets in the same season since 1995-1996.

The Hornets fell to 6-17 against Western Conference foes when their three-game winning streak ended with Friday's 99-86 defeat to the San Antonio Spurs.

After missing 30 games with a with an injured right elbow, David West scored 19 points and grabed 11 rebounds and Bobby Jackson came off the bench to add 14 points for the Hornets, who were outrebounded, 47-39.