After the events of All-Star weekend in the Bay Area, the NBA regular season returns on Wednesday night in Hollywood. Luka Doncic, Lebron James, and the Los Angeles Lakers will host the Charlotte Hornets as the second half of the season begins.
Everything changed for the Lakers ahead of February’s trade deadline when they were bafflingly gifted Doncic in a trade that will live in infamy. Doncic’s arrival and Anthony Davis’s exit changed the outlook for Los Angeles this year, and its new look will continue to unfold here.
For the Hornets, it’s another back half of a season in which they are simply playing out the string. LaMelo Ball and company are well outside the Eastern Conference play-in and appear destined for another high pick in June’s NBA Draft.
With an NBA League Pass special on the slate this Saturday in Los Angeles, check out our Charlotte Hornets vs. Los Angeles Lakers predictions, including our NBA expert picks, with tip set for February 19 at 10:00 p.m. ET.
Matchup Charlotte Hornets vs Los Angeles Lakers Overview
Teams: Charlotte Hornets vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Date: Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Crypto.com Arena
Win Probabilities
The Los Angeles Lakers are the prediction tip for the winner of the game between the Charlotte Hornets and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Projected Final Score
Our predicted final score for this NBA matchup is Los Angeles Lakers 118-97 Charlotte Hornets.
Expert Prediction: Who Wins?
Exiting the NBA’s trade deadline and, in effect, entering the second half of the regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets are headed in vastly different directions.
Gifted Luka Doncic, and with Lebron James in the final stages of his illustrious career, the Lakers have every incentive to contend now. Their new look roster has an argument to be one of the best in the Western Conference, and the home stretch of the regular season is all about gaining as much ground as possible to earn home-court advantage when the playoffs begin in April.
The Hornets, meanwhile, have endured another lost season. So far adrift from even the play-in picture in the Eastern Conference, it’s likely LaMelo Ball is eventually shut down for the year as they attempt to secure the best possible odds at the number one pick in June’s NBA Draft, and the potential franchise-altering addition of Cooper Flagg.
Though these teams have stark differences in their competitiveness this year, there is an odd, intriguing twist on this matchup. Despite occupying different conferences, there’s tension at hand between the two franchises after Los Angeles backed out of a trade deadline deal for Charlotte center Mark Williams. With no love lost, the Hornets will be eager to play spoiler.
Why the Charlotte Hornets Can Cover
With such a considerable mismatch, the Charlotte Hornets’ path to covering and potentially winning outright in Los Angeles is to try to outgun the Lakers. Luckily for Charlotte, this route plays to its strengths.
The Hornets take a lot of three-point attempts, and despite an offense that’s among the league’s worst, they make them at a decent clip. The Hornets are seventh in the league in the percentage of points from three pointers, at 38.3%. Seth Curry and Josh Green have a pair of rotation players currently making above 40% of their attempts from three.
While the degree of difficulty and a wonky shooting form stops LaMelo Ball from making his threes at a good rate (currently shooting around 34% from deep) he has no problem getting them up. The show-stopping guard is averaging nearly 12 shots from distance per game. As the Hornets try to swing the math in their favor in a mismatch, Ball’s presence here cannot be understated. A Chino Hills alum raised in the shadow of Los Angeles, Ball is always eager to show out in his hometown.
Ball isn’t the only one with Los Angeles ties who can make a big impact in this matchup, either. Just days after briefly being a Laker, center Mark Williams will be a major piece. Los Angeles acquired him before the medical negated the trade because it lacked big men.
Only four teams allow more points inside the paint per game than the Lakers, at 50.4. Ball and Williams will exploit this and spam pick-and-rolls in the two-man game, getting downhill toward the rim and making L.A. defend the lob threat.
Charlotte is undermanned and overmatched in Los Angeles, however, with a strong shooting night, it could very well hang around to cover.
Why the Los Angeles Lakers Can Cover
Using each team’s last 10 games as a sample size, the gulf between the Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets is considerable. The Lakers are fifth in offense, the Hornets are 30th. The Lakers are 5th in defense, the Hornets are 17th. The Lakers have been incredibly efficient, ranking first in true shooting percentage – the Hornets are, you guessed it, 30th.
With one of Luka Doncic or Lebron James initiating offense at all times, with competent role players like Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura to kick to, the Lakers simply have too much talent against a team with a near absence of the same.
With Grant Williams, Brandon Miller, and Josh Okogie all sidelined with injuries for the Hornets, they have a total lack of perimeter defenders to provide even a little resistance. The Lakers, via James and Doncic, will drive and kick repeatedly on offense and force an already undisciplined defense into rotation. That will create a ton of open looks and, with an already considerable talent difference, effectively put the Hornets away.
The Lakers are a title contender humming along brilliantly — to cover, they just need to play a clean game and not let Charlotte get a good night of variance in its shooting.
How to Make Charlotte Hornets vs. Los Angeles Lakers Picks
Ready to make picks on the Charlotte Hornets vs. Los Angeles Lakers matchup on Wednesday, February 19? Make sure to head over to Sportzino, where you can find every NBA game on the slate this weekend and so much more!
