The two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers have had more trouble with New Orleans than expected but Phil Jackson's club now has a chance to put the Hornets in its rearview mirror when the teams meet in the Big Easy for Game 6 of their Western Conference quarterfinals set.

Later, the Dallas Mavericks and Trail Blazers square off in Game 6 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series in Portland .

You can watch both games on TSN2 tonight, starting at 8pm et/5pm pt.

LA tipped the series in its favor in Hollywood on Tuesday when Kobe Bryant led six Lakers in double figures with 19 points, as Los Angeles topped New Orleans , 106-90.

The second-seeded Lakers took a 3-2 series lead behind a balanced offensive attack. Andrew Bynum chipped in 18 points and 10 rebounds, Pau Gasol went for 16 and eight, and Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom added 13 points apiece for Los Angeles , which won the rebounding battle, 42-25. Ron Artest rounded out the Lakers' double-digit scorers with 11 points.

Chris Paul, whose triple-double sparked the Hornets to a 93-88 win in Game 4 on Sunday, totaled 20 points and 12 assists on Tuesday. Trevor Ariza and Marco Belinelli added 22 and 21 points, respectively, in defeat.

"[Our confidence is] still high. We get to go back to our home court with our fans behind us," Paul said. "We don't have another game to fall back on. It's all or nothing for us ... I can't wait."

The Hornets made a spectacular 13-of-16 from the floor in the first quarter but faltered from there and the game really seemed to change when Bryant, playing through an ankle injury suffered on Sunday, threw down a vintage tomahawk slam over Emeka Okafor in the second quarter.

"I had a lane to the basket," recalled Bryant of his highlight-reel dunk. "It looked like [Okafor] was going to challenge me at the rim and I accepted the challenge. It was a message for us that [this game] is important."

" Kobe was awesome," Artest added. "I don't know what else to say...It was surprising. I was shocked to see (the dunk)...when I seen it, I was like whoa."

When winning Game 5 of a series, the Lakers are an impressive 22-4 all-time in the postseason.

The Lakers swept four meetings with the Hornets in the regular season. The two teams have never met in the postseason previously.

Game 7 of the series, if necessary, will be back in Los Angeles on Saturday.

.

Hornets vs Lakers News
New Orleans Hornets 118, L.A. Lakers 104
Preview: Hornets Lakers 11/06/07
Hornets 105 Lakers 111 03/23/07
Hornets 113, Lakers 103 01/20/07
New Orleans 105, L.A. Lakers 89 12/06/06

More Articles
Brandon Rush, Daequan Cook, Demarcus Cousins, Dashonte Riley, Glen Davis, Javaris Critten, Joakim Noah, Kevin Durant Brought to you by the Super Fan Network.

Kobe Bryant news:
•Kobe Bryant apologizes to Lakers GM
•Kobe Bryant Wins Scoring Title
•Kobe has most popular jersey in USA, China
•Bryant Proves the Best
•Wade beats Bryant for another Skills Challenge win
•Memorabilia Offered by Kobe Bryant and Upper Deck
•Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant Suspended
•Why did Kobe change to 24?
•Kobe Bryant: Won't Play This Week
•Kobe Bryant to Collab with Lil Wayne
•Lakers' Kobe Bryant ready for another run as NBA season nears
•Kobe Bryant Dunk Videos
•Kobe Bryant Videos
•Kobe Bryant Scores the Cover of NBA '07 for PlayStation
•Los Angeles Lakers All-Star Kobe Bryant Scores the Cover of NBA '07

Los Angeles news:
• Los Angeles news
•Los Angeles Concerts news
• Beckham Signs with Los Angeles Galaxy
• Top 10 Most Valuable NBA Franchise
• 10 Ten things to do in Los Angeles
• Lower back spasms from the court.
• Top 10 Los Angeles Restaurants.
• Top 10 Los Angeles Experiences

Staples Center news:
•Get up to the minute Los Angeles Concert tour news
•Garth Brooks To Play Staples Center Benefit Shows For Fire Victims
•Bon Jovi Staples Center
•Van Halen Staples Center Dec 14th
•Wild try to continue hot start in LA
•Hyundai Returns to X Games 13 Rally Car Racing
• Rumorville Eric Clapton to play the Staples Center
• Grady Brewer wins 'Contender 2' in a split decision over Steve Forbes
• Cirque comes the LA Staples Center

Phil Jackson news:
• Lakers coach Jackson fined US$25,000
• Phil Jackson to have hip surgery