Lakers 98 - 80 Pelicans
Final
  for this game

Lakers eye series win over Hornets in Big Easy

Apr 28, 2011 - 2:34 PM (Sports Network) - The two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers have had more trouble with New Orleans than expected but Phil Jackson's club now has a chance to put the Hornets in its rearview mirror when the teams meet in the Big Easy for Game 6 of their Western Conference quarterfinals set.

LA tipped the series in its favor in Hollywood on Tuesday when Kobe Bryant led six Lakers in double figures with 19 points, as Los Angeles topped New Orleans, 106-90.

The second-seeded Lakers took a 3-2 series lead behind a balanced offensive attack. Andrew Bynum chipped in 18 points and 10 rebounds, Pau Gasol went for 16 and eight, and Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom added 13 points apiece for Los Angeles, which won the rebounding battle, 42-25. Ron Artest rounded out the Lakers' double-digit scorers with 11 points.

Chris Paul, whose triple-double sparked the Hornets to a 93-88 win in Game 4 on Sunday, totaled 20 points and 12 assists on Tuesday. Trevor Ariza and Marco Belinelli added 22 and 21 points, respectively, in defeat.

"[Our confidence is] still high. We get to go back to our home court with our fans behind us," Paul said. "We don't have another game to fall back on. It's all or nothing for us ... I can't wait."

The Hornets made a spectacular 13-of-16 from the floor in the first quarter but faltered from there and the game really seemed to change when Bryant, playing through an ankle injury suffered on Sunday, threw down a vintage tomahawk slam over Emeka Okafor in the second quarter.

"I had a lane to the basket," recalled Bryant of his highlight-reel dunk. "It looked like [Okafor] was going to challenge me at the rim and I accepted the challenge. It was a message for us that [this game] is important."

"Kobe was awesome," Artest added. "I don't know what else to say...It was surprising. I was shocked to see (the dunk)...when I seen it, I was like whoa."

When winning Game 5 of a series, the Lakers are an impressive 22-4 all-time in the postseason.

The Lakers swept four meetings with the Hornets in the regular season. The two teams have never met in the postseason previously.

Game 7 of the series, if necessary, will be back in Los Angeles on Saturday.






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