When the Los Angeles Lakers trotted out a starting lineup of Russell Westbrook, Avery Bradley, Wayne Ellington, Stanley Johnson, and DeAndre Jordan, fans were less than hopeful for a win against the high-powered Charlotte Hornets on Friday night. Frank Vogel was forced to play this group amid injuries to LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Malik Monk.
This group did about as well as expected, digging a 16-5 hole for the Lakers before the first sub was brought in at the six-minute mark. The bench unit crawled back into the game, but a late second-quarter run by the Hornets gave them a 16-point lead at halftime.