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Lakers beat Hornets for first win of season

Nov 10, 2014 - 6:10 AM Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Lakers had four days off in between games.

That little break proved to be beneficial as they finally got in the win column with a solid team effort on Sunday.

Kobe Bryant and Jeremy Lin each scored 21 points to help Los Angeles to a 107-92 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

"We did a better job defensively," said Bryant. "Offensively, we did a better job of spacing the floor."

The Lakers (1-5), who were off to their worst start in Los Angeles history, hadn't lost six straight to open the season since the 1957-58 Minneapolis team dropped its first seven.

Carlos Boozer finished with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, Jordan Hill netted 12 with a career-high seven assists and Ed Davis added 10.

Al Jefferson paced the Hornets with 23 points, while Kemba Walker and Marvin Williams scored 17 and 11, respectively. Lance Stephenson pulled down a game- high 10 rebounds.

"We had good shots and some nights the ball doesn't go in the basket," said Hornets coach Steve Clifford. "And when the ball didn't go in the basket, we stopped defending and stopped rebounding.

Los Angeles trailed the entire first half, but it came out firing on all cylinders to take a 12-point lead with a quarter to play.

Boozer scored eight points during a 16-1 run, with his last bucket giving the Lakers their first lead of the night. Lin and Bryant then both hit a 3-pointer to cap the spurt for a 67-59 lead.

Davis' layup with 2.4 seconds left in the third helped the hosts to a 76-64 advantage entering the fourth.

"We played really hard tonight," said Lin. "In the third quarter we got stops."

Charlotte cut the deficit to eight early in the fourth, but that's as close as it would get. The Lakers led by as many as 17 in the final frame.

The Hornets led 25-18 after the first quarter. Los Angeles cut the deficit to two late in the second, but Charlotte ended the final 2:17 of the quarter on an 11-4 run for a 51-42 halftime lead.

Game Notes

Charlotte kicked off a four-game road trip that it will finish with stops in Portland, Phoenix and Golden State ... The Hornets have lost 11 of their last 15 games at Staples Center ... Los Angeles shot 42-for-82 from the floor ... Lin dished out seven assists ... Charlotte made 3-of-14 from beyond the arc and committed 14 turnovers.