The new and improved Lakers were just too much for the New Orleans Hornets as they lost 60-40. Dwight Howard was his usual self, going for 16 points and just two rebounds from a double-double while also going perfect from the field. With this, the New Orleans Hornets go down to 1-1.
| Los Angeles Lakers (2-1) at New Orleans Hornets (1-1) |
| Dec 9, 2012 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | | Los Angeles | 12 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 60 | | New Orleans | 12 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 40 |
| Top Performers | | Los Angeles Lakers | | Dwight Howard (16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks) | | Kobe Bryant (15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) | | New Orleans Hornets | | Eric Gordon (13 points, 4 rebounds) | | Grevieis Vasquez (9 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist) |
| | Team Stats Comparison | | LAL | NOR | | FG Made-Att | 27-46 (58%) | 17-46 (36%) | | 3PT Made-Att | 2-6 (33%) | 4-15 (26%) | | FT Made-Att | 4-5 (80%) | 2-3 (67%) | | Rebounds | 29 | 19 | | Assists | 18 | 7 | | Turnovers | 3 | 5 | | Steals | 5 | 1 | | Blocks | 4 | 0 |
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| Los Angeles Lakers | | STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | | Dwight Howard | 17 | 8-8 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 16 | | Kobe Bryant | 18 | 7-16 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | | Antawn Jamison | 16 | 5-9 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
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| New Orleans Hornets | | STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | | Eric Gordon | 16 | 5-9 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | | Grevieis Vasquez | 11 | 4-7 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | | Al-Farouq Aminu | 16 | 3-9 | 0-5 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
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