Will Ferrell nails cheerleader in face with basketball (VIDEO)

Ever wonder how Hollywood manages to get those crowd-filled sporting events on film without having to pay thousands of extras (excuse me, background actors)? Well, if you are sports parody king Will Ferrell, you just take over the arena during halftime.

Ferrell, channelling his best Andy Kaufman,  hit a cheerleader in the face with a basketball and was then dragged out of the arena by security during Wednesday night's Pelicans-Lakers game at the Smoothie King Center.

The staged incident was part of a film shoot where Ferrell's character was attempting a half-court shot with the cheerleaders lined up alongside him. Instead of aiming for the basket, he fired the ball directly into the face of one of the girls,

The scene is for the upcoming film, "Daddy's Home," which also stars Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini and Hannibal Buress.

"When a divorced guy's ex-wife re-marries someone way more uptight, he re-enters her life and wreaks havoc," is how IMDB describes the flick.

Production has been filming around New Orleans for a while and is expected to take place at the arena over several days. Fans in attendance will be informed of the shoot, according to NOLA.com.

And you thought nothing could upstage Kobe and his castmates' comedy blockbuster  this season.