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Hornets look to continue early success vs. Lakers

Nov 6, 2007 - 2:41 PM New Orleans (3-0) at LA Lakers (2-1) 10:30 pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Quick starts are becoming a pattern for the New Orleans Hornets.

The Hornets look to match their franchise-best start on Tuesday when they travel to the Staples Center to meet the Los Angeles Lakers.

On Sunday, New Orleans posted a 93-88 victory over Denver to move within one victory of matching the franchise's best start, set last season.

They can attribute both successes to a defense that is allowing 90.3 points through three games, coincidentally, the same average the Hornets yielded during their four-game streak to start last season.

New Orleans took two of three contests between the teams last season to win its first season series with the Lakers since 1995-96, when the team was still based in Charlotte.

If the Hornets want to match last season's quick start, they will need to solve Los Angeles' high-octane attack. The Lakers' have scored 119 points in each of their first two games - wins over the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz - in large part because they are shooting a league-best 51.7 percent from the field.

As usual, two-time NBA scoring champion Kobe Bryant is front and center, averaging 31.3 points and eight rebounds this season.

In his last appearance against the Hornets, Bryant scored 50 points in a 111-105 victory on March 23 - the fourth straight game he had at least 50 - joining Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in league history to accomplish the feat.