The Lakers need James to babysit a veteran-laden team of All-Stars? 

The Lakers are clearly having problems with the game right now. LeBron, recovering from abdominal muscle injury. in their last match against Portland - the Lakers showed such a terrible game, after which they received a huge wave of criticism. Today they will come out over-motivated with a desire to prove that they can beat any opponent without LeBron. 
Let's add Westbrook's motivation too. In the same match against Portland, he realized only 1 of 13 shots. Today he will also come out to prove his status. 
“Charlotte” is now on some kind of hype and they are clearly somewhat overrated, and besides, they are playing a b2b game.