Asked about starting Morris Peterson in place of Rasual Butler, Scott mused, "I've considered more of me coming off the bench and playing, finding someone at the two spot who can make a shot. I think I can, so maybe I'll play."
Then there were his big men, West, who was down almost two rebounds from last season's 8.9 average to 7.0, and Tyson Chandler, down from last season's 11.7 to 8.0.
"I've been trying to figure that out myself, watching some tape," Chandler said before the game. "I see some problems, some habits I picked up I've got to get away from. And I've just got to get after it.
"I started the season kind of slow, banged up and allowed that to slow me, but you can't let knick-knack injuries slow you down. Time for me to pick up the pace."
They all picked it up Tuesday night, starting with Paul, who dominated the first half, scoring 23 points with seven assists, as the Hornets led by as many as 10 points.
Then after Kobe Bryant launched one of his one-man human-wave assaults with a 20-point third quarter and the Lakers went ahead by five points, Paul led the Hornets back again.
When all the Lakers' long shots stopped falling, it was one-sided at the end.
The Showtime Lakers, like Johnson and Scott, like to tell the current Lakers how much better their '80s teams were ("Not even close," Scott said).
Likewise, Byron says the Lakers' swagger at this point is "not even close."
For sure, no one was intimidated Tuesday night. The Lakers still have that to work on, among other things.
--
mark.heisler@latimes.com
