The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night for their last home game of 2023.

After suffering a tough loss to the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day, the Lakers easily achieved their goal of getting back on track as they trounced the Hornets 133–112 to improve to 17–15 on the season.

With Cam Reddish sidelined with a groyne injury, Darvin Ham opened with a big lineup that included LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Jarred Vanderbilt, Taurean Prince, and Rui Hachimura.

Hachimura led the way, of course, with a steal and a transition slam to start the scoring. Davis also got out to a strong start, making a couple of easy baskets, including a huge poster dunk against Miles Bridges.

James’ early three-pointer put the Hornets ahead 15–13, but Terry Rozier and Bridges both made long shots.

The Hornets then fired up from deep to extend their lead to nine points, while the Lakers withered away in the process. The Lakers were trailing 31-28 at the end of the first quarter despite some much-needed offensive from Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell, who came off the bench.

In the first few minutes of the second quarter, Hachimura’s three-point play and Max Christie’s three-point shot swiftly matched the score for the Lakers.

The Hornets responded with a 9-0 run before Davis used a block and a layup to get the Lakers back on track. Davis scored another incredible home run after that, but he was called out for taunting. After James’ alley-oop layup to seal the half, Davis hit another thunderous slam to give the Lakers a little lead (58–57) going into the locker room.

After a quiet first half, James got things going in the third quarter with a few buckets, but Bridges did the same for Charlotte.

From that point on, the Lakers were able to gain ground, and for the first time, James and Davis controlled the inside to push the margin to double digits.

Leading the way were Russell and Reaves, who helped the Lakers close off the quarter with a 99-80 advantage going into the fourth. At last, Davis fouled out.

Christian Wood opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer, taking advantage of his second opportunity in the rotation as the Lakers were putting on quite the show. The way the Lakers bench extended the lead throughout the fourth quarter allowed James and Davis to get some much-needed rest.

The Lakers won handily, and the crowd got up as Reaves and Russell continued to get the baskets they wanted.