Jeremy Lin and Kobe Bryant both had big nights on Sunday as they led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 107-92 win over the Charlotte Hornets at Staples Center to finally score their first win of the season.
Lin had his best game in a purple-and-gold uniform as he scored 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting with three three-pointers, while also adding seven assists, while Bryant added 21 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists for the Lakers.
The Hornets were in control in the first half that ended with them on top by nine points. However, the Lakers dominated in the third period, outscoring the Hornets 34-13 to take control of the match.
"We sat down on them defensively," Bryant said of their third-quarter dominance via ESPN. "We flew around and made them take tough shots, made a conscious effort to post Booz early."
Byron Scott also got his first win as Lakers coach, but the veteran mentor said that there is no time to celebrate because they still have a lot of games to play this season.
"It's just a win and we've got 76 more of these things to go," Scott said. "That's a lot of games left. It's just a win. I know the city and everybody probably feels pretty good about it, but like I said, from game one to game six, we've gotten better, and that's the whole thing about this process."
Scott, who replaced unpopular coach Mike D'Antoni during the offseason, praised his players, though, for responding to his challenge of not relying too much on Bryant, who attempted 122 shots in their first five games.
"Guys weren't just looking to get the ball to Kobe and step out of the way," Scott said. "I talked to Jeremy before the game about being more assertive on both ends of the floor."
Al Jefferson had another big night for the Hornets as he finished with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Kemba Walker added 17 points and four assists, but their second-half meltdown was too much to overcome.
"We stopped playing defense in the second half," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said after the game. "You could see our language starting to fade when we started missing shots and not playing defense."
