Game 1: What happened?

The Lakers lost Game 1 because they didn’t play with the necessary energy to start the game and they never caught up with the New Orleans Hornets’ emotion and drive. Everything else stemmed from their lack of life in the opening minutes.

Their defense was porous, particularly against Chris Paul (34 points, seven rebounds, 14 assists). Kobe Bryant said they don’t need to make dramatic adjustments for Game 2 on Wednesday, they just need to do what they were supposed to do in Game 1.

They need more from Pau Gasol, who scored only eight points on 2-for-9 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. He averaged 22.3 points on 70.5 percent shooting and 12.8 rebounds in four games against the Hornets during the regular season.

They also didn’t get enough from their other big guy, Andrew Bynum, who had 13 points and nine rebounds but played only 25 minutes, 39 seconds because of foul trouble. He averaged 15 points and 5.8 rebounds in the regular season against the Hornets.