Despite the demanding schedule, several Lakers turned in strong performances against New Orleans. Deandre Ayton delivered one of his best outings since joining Los Angeles, finishing with 20 points and 16 rebounds.

LeBron James is yet to play this season because of sciatica, but he is working his way back and opened up about a number of topics Monday.

The Lakers have gotten off to a solid start to the 2024-25 season. They enter Sunday’s game against the Toronto Raptors with a record of 5-4 and reason for optimism. Big man Anthony Davis has gotten off to an MVP-level start, Lebron James is as effective as ever, and Austin Reaves is looking like the player he was two seasons ago.

The Charlotte Hornets enter Monday night’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers searching for stability after dropping five of their last six games. What began as a promising 2–1 start has once again been derailed by injuries — a pattern that has plagued Charlotte in recent seasons.

The Los Angeles Lakers are among the best teams in the Western Conference thus far in the 2025-26 NBA season, even without megastar LeBron James, who has missed the start of the campaign due to sciatica.