Half: Lakers 47, Hornets 41

The Lakers played with the fire and emotion tonight in Game 2 that was missing in their loss Sunday to the New Orleans Hornets in Game 1. They were only halfway to tying the best-of-7 series at a victory apiece, however. There were good signs all around Staples Center for the Lakers. First and foremost, they lead by halftime despite the face (or perhaps because) Kobe Bryant scored only three points. The Lakers divided up the workload far better than on Sunday. Andrew Bynum scored 12 points, Lamar Odom had eight, Ron Artest scored seven and Pau Gasol had six. Carl Landry had 12 for the Hornets.