Hornets @ Lakers Preview: Peja Likely Out Again

Peja Stojakovic will likely miss tonight’s game at the Los Angeles Lakers.

The small forward missed the most recent loss against the Sacramento Kings due to an illness afflicting a family member. There’s not much more info than that, but the loss of Peja certainly hurts New Orleans’ chances in a game that already seemed more than a bit out of reach.

Of course, with Peja’s recent resurgence, anything was possible. The Hornets beat the Hawks and Suns with Stojakovic’s sharp-shooting, and the Lakers were close to becoming a rival only a season and a half ago. Since that time, LA has won a world championship. New Orleans has lost their coach, their playoff series, and their best player. Now, we’ve lost a guy who was vying to fill that role in Chris Paul’s absence.

James Posey got his first start in Monday’s loss to the Kings, scoring eight points on 3-of-8 shooting, and he’ll get the start again if Peja can’t go. That’s all but a foregone conclusion. Posey’s play isn’t anywhere close to what Peja can bring right now, and with Ron Artest likely to be on Posey all night, there isn’t a lot of hope that Posey can up that total of eight points in 41 minutes last night.

The Hornets have now lost two of three after winning three straight.  And considering the Lakers bested the Bees 148-88 and held us to 36.5% from the field with CP3 and Peja in the lineup, there’s not much hope for climbing out of this hole tonight.

Los Angeles is coming off of a great defensive game, albeit against the historically flaccid New Jersey Nets, and have only given up 90 points per game during their six-game winning streak.  The Hornets are 1-9 away from the New Orleans arena this season, but at 7-10, even a loss isn’t immediately damning.

It’s going to take a supreme effort from David West and Emeka Okafor tonight.  They’re the only two stars remaining.  Of course, Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton might have something to say about that. Over the last four, Collison has averaged 15.5 ppg on slightly over 33 minutes.  Thornton has 14.75 ppg and five total steals on 28 minutes off the bench.  Expect more of Thornton as a sixth man, considering Devin Brown has a better feel as a defender right now. That’s invaluable going up against a Lakers’ squad that can occasionally score with some guard they’ve got. Brown has played at least 30 minutes three times this year and has averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists in those contests.

But what do I know? I hated the firing of Byron Scott, but the Hornets have gone 4-4 since that time, slightly better than the 3-6 record they ran off through the first nine with Chris Paul still in the lineup.

Tell you what, Jeff Bower, win this one, and I’ll believe.