Alex Brandon / AP

The Los Angeles Lakers showed exactly why they’re the defending Western Conference champion.

New Orleans showed why its thought of as a possible contender for that title.

But in the end, the Lakers proved too much for the Hornets, staying unbeaten while sending New Orleans to its third defeat in four game 93-86 Wednesday night at the New Orleans Arena.

Chris Paul had 30 points and 13 assists, his seventh straight game of at least 20 points and 10 assists. David West had 21 points and 12 rebounds.

It wasn’t enough to overcome ice-cold shooting for 36 minutes – New Orleans shot 35 percent through three quarters – and 17 turnovers that turned into 23 points for the Lakers (7-0).

“I’m disappointed period,” Hornets head coach Byron Scott said. “I’m disappointed when we lose a basketball game. With the start we had, I’m disappointed in that.

“The effort was there. But we have to play a lot smarter and we have to understand we need to cherish that ball a lot better than we have the last four or five games.”

New Orleans (4-3) was down 11 at the end of the first quarter, 21 by halftime and 19 after three quarters of play.

But the Hornets gave reason for 18,239 fans to hope in that final quarter, cutting the lead down to three with 1:33 to go when Chris Paul sank a jumper. That ended a 24-8 run by the Hornets.

And then Kobe Bryant did what reigning league MVP’s do. He put a dagger in New Orleans’ comeback attempt, breaking out a shooting slump that had him with only nine points heading into the fourth quarter.

With the shot clock ticking down to zero and James Posey in his face, Bryant sank a 3-pointer that pushed the Los Angeles lead back to six.

A steal by the Lakers’ Lamar Odom and the subsequent foul by Peja Stojakovic of Pau Gasol, who made one of two free throws, all but ended any true hope of a New Orleans win.

“That’s a tough shot,” Paul said. “That’s why he’s one of the best players in the NBA. We were making a run and that was the timely shot that team needed.”

“You couldn’t do a better job than what Pose did. Right in his face,” Scott said. “That’s what great players do. They make big shots.”

Bryant finished with six assists and 20 points, none bigger than his final field goal.

“I was due,” Bryant said. “You have games like that where you’re shot is struggling. I just kind of stayed with it and stayed positive and that shot went down.”

New Orleans held the Lakers to 41 percent shooting, a percentage Scott likes. But his team’s offense wasn’t much better, hitting only 44.7 percent of its shots. That includes a staggering 66 percent in the second half.

It’s the first half that will haunt the Hornets about Wednesday’s game.

“Defensively we played as well as we could,” West said. “We just couldn’t get into a rhythm in the first half and digging yourself a hole like that against the best team in the NBA right now, it’s almost impossible to come out of something like that.”

Bradley Handwerger can be reached at bhandwerger@wwltv.com or 504-529-6439.