Charlotte @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 9, 2017 ) L.A. Lakers 110, Charlotte 99

The Charlotte Hornets are beginning to pile up some impressive victories and will try to cap a winning four-game road trip when they visit the slumping Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. The Hornets won three of five since a 3-10 slump, including victories at the defending champion Golden State Warriors to begin the trip and a 131-111 runaway win at Sacramento on Tuesday.

"To score the way we did, really just did a lot of good things offensively," interim coach Stephen Silas told reporters after his team set a season high for scoring. "We need to carry that over because our offense has not been very good up until this point, up until this trip. But things are starting to click a little bit and it's good." Facing a hot offensive team is about the worst thing for the Lakers right now, as they've allowed 119.3 points per game during an eight-game slide. Perhaps the worst of those eight consecutive losses was the 133-96 setback against Oklahoma City at home on Wednesday. "I felt like we came out the way we have been playing all year, which is competitive, in the fight and taking it to them," coach Luke Walton told the media. "Then it felt like we gave in."

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Charlotte), Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles)

ABOUT THE HORNETS (14-23): Charlotte has been enjoying success with its pick-and-roll attack, which has been the catalyst for better ball distribution and open shots; the Hornets are 27th in the league in assists (20.7) but recorded at least 21 in seven of their last eight games. "It was more of our ball movement," Silas told reporters after his team hit 15-of-32 3-pointers against the Kings. "We stayed in the pick-and-roll basically the whole game, as much as we could. And we were making the extra pass and getting those open 3s." Dwight Howard led eight players in double figures with 20 points and both Nicolas Batum and Jeremy Lamb finished 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.

ABOUT THE LAKERS (11-26): Rookie point guard Lonzo Ball (shoulder) missed six straight games but returned to practice and is questionable for this one. He was limited to five points but handed out nine assists and six of his teammates scored at least 12 points in a 110-99 win at Charlotte less than a month ago. One bright spot in the latest lopsided loss was a solid shooting night for fellow rookie Kyle Kuzma, who was 7-for-14 against the Thunder after going 33-for-102 over his previous six games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Howard needs seven rebounds to move past Hall of Famer Charles Barkley (12,546) and into 18th place on the NBA's all-time list.

2. Lakers C Brook Lopez (ankle) returned from an eight-game absence to score 10 points in 16 minutes against the Thunder.

3. Hornets F Johnny O'Bryant scored a career-high 16 points against the Kings and finished in double figures in consecutive games for the first time in his four-year career.

PREDICTION: Hornets 113, Lakers 111