After taking a loss at home to the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder, the Los Angeles Lakers are on the road to take on the playoff hopeful Charlotte Hornets at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

The Lakers will look to play spoilers Tuesday night against a Charlotte team that is only half game out of the eighth and final spot in the East.

Los Angeles is coming off a loss at home to a Thunder team that was without its superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Jeremy Lin led the team with 20 points, eight assists, six rebounds, and three steals off the pine, but it was certainly not enough. Jordan Hill posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while rookie Jordan Clarkson continued his stellar play with 12 points and four assists.

The Lakers have virtually nothing to lose, but they have been playing better basketball of late, and despite a disappointing season, Coach Byron Scott would still like to see his team play hard every night. Prior to the loss against Oklahoma City, the Lakers owned a three-game winning streak with wins over the Boston Celtics, Utah Jazz, and Milwaukee Bucks.

The Hornets have a lot at stake since they are very close to capturing a playoff seed, as mentioned above. Their last game was in Orlando against the Magic on Sunday in which Charlotte grabbed a much needed 98-83 victory.

Mo Williams led the way with 23 points and 11 assists. He has been remarkable since being traded to the Hornets before the deadline, averaging 23.4 points and 7.0 assists on 46.2 percent shooting in five games in a Hornets uniform. Williams has taken over the starting point guard position while Kemba Walker continues to nurse a knee injury.

Against Orlando, the Hornets also had three players score 16 points which included Al Jefferson, Cody Zeller, and Gerald Henderson. Jefferson racked up 10 boards as well, while Zeller nabbed eight rebounds of his own.

The Lakers and Hornets clashed early in the season on November 9 at the STAPLES Center with the Lakers prevailing with a 107-92 victory to earn their first win of the season at the time.

The Lakers had a healthy Kobe Bryant for that game as he, along with Lin, scored a team-high 21 points. Bryant also added four assists and six rebounds to his stat line, while Lin dished out seven assists. Al Jefferson was the high man for the Hornets with 23 points and eight rebounds.

Charlotte struggled defensively in that early season matchup, allowing L.A. to make 51.2 percent of their shots. However, Charlotte’s defense has been superb of late, allowing 40.7 percent shooting over the last three games.

The Hornets are a desperate team and will look to punch the Lakers early in this game. They have been decent at home, owning a 13-16 record at “The Hive.” Meanwhile, the Lakers most recently ended an 11-game road losing streak against the Jazz and are hoping to begin a road winning streak. Though, they own an appalling 7-22 away record.

The game tips off at 7 pm Eastern Standard Time.