Halftime: Lakers 45, Hornets 41

Forget about first team to 100 wins. The first team to shoot 40 percent might win this game. The Lakers played into the Hornets' hands by hoisting the first shot they saw instead of working the ball into a better position. Settling for long-range jumpers is not their game. The Hornets seemed perfectly content to chuck it from distance, however. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 16 points in the first half. The Lakers shot 35.6 percent and the Hornets shot 37. David West and James Posey had eight apiece for New Orleans.