It wasn't more than a week ago that things looked desperate for the Lakers. They lost in back-to-back blowouts, and their star players looked very, very shaky from a health standpoint.

Then they won in Boston, without LeBron James, Anthony Davis and (in the second half) Jarred Vanderbilt. Then they won in New York. And then Monday, they finished off the trip with a victory over the 10-win Hornets in Charlotte. Final score, 124-118.

And while the game got a little closer than the Lakers would have preferred in the fourth, the Lakers controlled it throughout, led by Anthony Davis. His scoring and rebounding has been there all year, but as of late AD's passing has also become a really big thing for the Lakers. Monday, he finished with a triple double -- 26 points, 15 rebounds, 11 assists, plus three blocks, on 12-16 shooting. He certainly wasn't the only contributor. D'Angelo Russell led the Lakers with 28 points. Austin Reaves pitched in with 11 dimes of his own. LeBron had 26 points.

The Lakers (27-25) are now two games over .500 for the first time since beating the Hornets on December 28.

And meanwhile, could the extent of the injury to Jarred Vanderbilt's foot be a little less than feared?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers beat the Hornets, finish the trip 4-2.

SEGMENT 2: Russell makes a closing argument?

SEGMENT 3: Did Boston change the season? And might Vando's injury be... not quite so bad?

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