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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