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Last week we heard about Ryan's old man-ness and how he really wanted OKC to lose. His wish was granted, as the Kobe company took down the Thunder in six.

Today I welcome you to Haterville, the home of hate. Now before you get your panties in a bunch, realize that I don't really hate these teams per se, I just don't want them to win. Well, to be more accurate, I'm rooting for their demise.

Do I need reasons? No, it's a free country and I can hate whoever I want, except for players on the Hornets of course. And Michael Jordan, because he's the reason I started watching basketball all those years ago. And Big Chief Monk Boudreaux. If you're unsure about the requirement of love for Big Chief, I suggest you learn more about him.

Without further adieu:

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It's playoff prediction time here at Hornets247. No, the Bees won't be part in the postseason, but that doesn't mean that we can't have some fun talking about the 16 teams that have earned a shot to compete for the title. The seeding is set, players and coaches are preparing, and we're predicting.

Ryan Schwan: If ever there was a time when seeding was unimportant, it was this year in the Western Conference.  Seven games difference between the 1 seed and the 8 seed?  Point differentials that only vary by 2.6?  Crazy place, the Western Conference.

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The biggest crowd of the season saw the Hornets at their best tonight, getting an early jump on the Lakers, building up big leads and refusing to surrender. They were physical and acted like they had something to play for, even though they're just a couple of weeks away from certain vacation.

Some might argue that wins like this are pointless, but I have to disagree. The Hornets needed Chris Paul to come back for the home stretch, playoff hopes or no playoff hopes, and the fans were in dire need of some thrills before this ugly season ended. They need to believe that the Hornets aren't completely broken, that there's some hope for next season, some reason to renew those season tickets. And tonight they got that. 18,205 of them (plus Bruce Willis) were treated to scrappy defense, big runs and a win over the best in the West.

108-100 the final score.

Defending Kobe

As is the norm, Kobe deferred to his teammates for much of the first half. The Hornets rarely left him go against single coverage, and he didn't try to force anything. In the second half, Kobe was looking for his shot much more aggressively, especially down the stretch in the fourth. The Hornets still sent double teams and managed to get the ball out of his hands several times.

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Game 75. Kobe and the Lakers are in town to take on the Hornets. Game tips at 7 Central.

The Lakers are 54-19 on the season, 22-14 on the road and have won eight of their last nine. The beat the Rockets 109-101 in Houston on Saturday, despite a poor first quarter and a sluggish fourth. Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 30 points while Kobe was an assist shy of a triple-double (BALLHOG!). Both Andrew Bynum (strained Achilles) and Luke Walton (back) are injured and unavailable to play tonight.

This is the third and final meeting between the Hornets and Lakers this season. The Lakers won both previous games by double digits, though both of those were played in Los Angeles.

The Hornets are coming off a blowout loss to the red-hot Blazers on Saturday and are just 3-11 in March, 34-40 overall. They need four more wins in the regular season to avoid the worst record of Chris Paul's pro career.

Numbers:

Pace: Lakers 95.7 (11th), Hornets 94.8 (16th)
Offensive Efficiency: Lakers 106.2 (11th), Hornets 104.8 (14th)
Defensive Efficiency: Lakers 100.2 (4th), Hornets 107.1 (23rd)

Linkage:

• Lagniappe: A Top Hats and High Tops report, plus DC's perfect game
• Rival bloggers: Forum Blue and Gold (THN) | LA Times

(Many thanks to Dariusz for today's banner featuring Darren Collison. Be sure to check out more of Dariusz's designs in our Wallpapers vault.)

The Lakers showed their depth and superiority tonight, as they gradually built a big fat lead against the Hornets in the first half via their vast array of weapons. To the Hornets credit, they never really quit and battled back hard with a small ball lineup in the fourth quarter, trying desperately to deprive Laker fans of their free tacos. Unfortunately, New Orleans couldn't quite eclipse the century mark, thus failing to save downtown Los Angeles from a nasty bout of post-game flatulence.

110-99 the final score ( box | recap ). On to some notes...

Outmatched

To win this one, the Hornets would have had to play a near-perfect game while hoping the Lakers had an off-night. Unfortunately, neither of those things happened. The Lake Show was clicking on all cylinders. The looked inside to Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol regularly and they both delivered more often than not. Kobe Bryant took what the defense gave him and finished with 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Phil Jackson ended up using eleven players and all of them got on the scoreboard. The Lakers got to the free-throw line with ease (33 attempts) and played great team defense for much of the game. They just did too many things well for the Hornets to have a chance.

It was nice though that the Hornets outrebounded the Lakers, 38-34, which reinforces the fact that New Orleans didn't lose this game due to lack of effort.

Devin Brown

There was plenty of criticism for Devin in the Game On comments, but I feel they were mostly undeserved. True, he's not a legitimate starter in this league, but the Hornets don't have much choice but to start him and he's been giving it his all out there. He was about the only guy tonight who was able to break through the Lakers' perimeter defense and make something happen. He finished an abysmal 1-of-9 from the field for 6 points, but he created a lot of easy looks for his teammates as his 8 assists can attest to. He also delivered a good hard foul on Kobe in the third quarter, and although Kobe often got the better of DB in this one, he certainly didn't have it easy.

Darren Collison

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