The Los Angeles Lakers came away with a strong 121-111 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night to keep on rolling through their season. 

The Hornets threatened with a sturdy offense that sits just above the Lakers when it comes to team points per game, 14th best average for the Hornets compared to 15th best for the Lakers.

That offense was on display early for Charlotte. They outclassed the Los Angeles defense and stormed ahead to a 40-36 lead as the first quarter came to a close. The Lakers couldn't make stops as Charlotte hurdled through them, and early on, it seemed like an upset was imminent.

Los Angeles did pull it together defensively in the second and third quarters, and their offense was present throughout the game, so things eventually evened out.

A Two-Way Standout

Luka Dončić was on fire yet again with a 38-point scoring performance, but it was a different Laker that stood out to head coach JJ Redick for the way he contributed on both sides of the court.

"I thought Marcus [Smart] led us on defense, but Rui [Hachimura] had a stretch there in the third that was good as we've seen him on that end of the floor," Redick said (via Spectrum Sportsnet). "On top of that, he was making shots on the other end to give us that cushion."

Hachimura finished the game with 21 points, his second-highest total this season. He went 7-7 from the field in the second half and tacked on three rebounds, one assist, and one steal to his performance. 

The third quarter stretch that Redick described was Charlotte's lowest-scoring quarter with just 15 points as a team. They also turned the ball over a costly nine times and overall had no answer to Los Angeles. 

Hachimura's Energy

Hachimura was a major part of that unraveling, and while the intangibles of defense don't always show up in the box score, they certainly showed up to Redick.

"The energy, first of all, he was flying around... his activity level. And the group feeds off that. When he's in a rhythm offensively, shooting the basketball, you just feel like it's going in every time, and outside of the Atlanta game, it pretty much has been going in every time."

Through the early part of the season, Hachimura has shot 56.7% from the field, which would be a career-high if kept up throughout the season. He has emerged as a threat on both sides of the court for the Lakers and proven himself a crucial part of the JJ Redick machine while playing alongside talents like Austin Reeves and Dončić.