National Basketball Association

Lakers thrash Hornets for 7th straight win

Published Dec. 2, 2009 7:51 a.m. ET

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Until the Los Angeles Lakers finally leave home or reach the tougher parts of their schedule, they will happily keep banking victories in the easier stretches.

Andrew Bynum scored 21 points, Kobe Bryant added 18 on a light night of work and the Lakers beat the New Orleans Hornets 110-99 on Tuesday for their seventh straight victory.

Ron Artest scored 16 points as the Lakers remained undefeated in six games since the return of Pau Gasol, who had 14 points in Los Angeles' balanced offense. Los Angeles has beaten the NBA's two worst road teams in three days, giving them a minor workout until stiffer challenges — Miami and Phoenix — arrive this weekend.


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"We don't draw up the schedule," said Lamar Odom, who had eight points and eight rebounds. "When you're playing against teams you feel might be a lesser opponent, we just want to concentrate on doing things just like we do them in practice. We want to play the same way against everybody, and for the last couple of games we've been able to do that."

The Lakers moved in front of the Suns atop the Western Conference and the overall NBA standings by taking another big first-half lead and coasting to their league-best 11th home victory. Seven players scored at least seven points while Los Angeles beat New Orleans at Staples Center for the second time in 24 days.

While New Orleans is struggling on the road, the Lakers don't even know what kind of road team they are. Thanks to a curious early season schedule, the defending champions have played 13 of their first 17 games at home, and they've still got four games left on this six-game homestand.

"We're playing pretty good basketball, but you really can't measure it," coach Phil Jackson said. "I think we'll get a measure of this team, where we are at this point in the season, with Miami and Phoenix."

Former UCLA star Darren Collison scored 20 points for the Hornets, who lost their fifth straight road game. New Orleans' 1-9 road record is only ahead of the 0-11 New Jersey Nets, and the Hornets are winless on the road since beating the Clippers at Staples Center on Nov. 9.

Emeka Okafor added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, who played again without All-Star point guard Chris Paul and forward Peja Stojakovic. Paul has a seriously sprained left ankle, while Stojakovic missed his second straight game to deal with a family member's illness.

"In these last couple of games, we just don't have a clear definition in terms of what guys are supposed to do," said former All-Star David West, who had just eight points on nine shots - five fewer shots than Collision, a rookie. "There are too many guys trying to score, and that's us being sporadic. We can't decide where we're going to go with the basketball."

The Lakers overpowered New Orleans last month with solid bench play and Bryant's low-post scoring, which more than made up for the absences of the injured Bynum and Gasol in a 104-88 win. Los Angeles is nearly at full strength now, and its bulky front line was too much for the depleted Hornets.

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