NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ Baron Davis scored 19 points to lead the Charlotte Hornets over the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers 103-90 Wednesday night in the teams' preseason opener.

David Wesley scored 17 points for the Hornets, Jamal Mashburn had 15 and Eddie Robinson 10. P.J. Brown had nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles with 19 points, and Shaquille O'Neal had 16 points and nine rebounds.

Charlotte outrebounded Los Angeles 54-37.

Forward Horace Grant, acquired in the four-team Patrick Ewing trade, had two points and three rebounds in 18 minutes in his Lakers debut. Los Angeles rested starting point guard Ron Harper.

The game was played in New Orleans as a homecoming for O'Neal, who played for LSU 90 miles away in Baton Rouge.

The first professional basketball game in the 1-year-old New Orleans Arena drew a sellout crowd of 16,994.

Charlotte took the lead for good at 3-2 scored the final 11 points of the second quarter to take a 63-36 lead at halftime. The Hornets' biggest lead was 34 points early in the third quarter.

O'Neal's jumper in the lane 12 seconds into the game gave Los Angeles its only lead at 2-0.

Mashburn scored 12 points as the Hornets took a 36-19 lead after the first quarter.

O'Neal scored seven of Los Angeles' 17 second-quarter points, but the Lakers got no closer than 16 points.