The Los Angeles Lakers seemed to be in total control of Wednesday night's game against the Charlotte Hornets to open the post-All-Star break portion of the season, but everything quickly fell apart. Austin Reaves was ejected in the second half and the Hornets immediately responded with an 18-1 run to seize control of the game.
LeBron James got the Lakers back into the game, but some huge plays down the stretch by LaMelo Ball and two late misses from James allowed the Hornets to escape with a very impressive 100-97 win.
The Reaves ejection changed the game and was undoubtedly a big factor in the loss, but the Lakers frankly should have had enough to get a win even without him for most of the second half.