Gordon Hayward scored 27 points but the Charlotte Hornets otherwise struggled offensively as they lost to the Chicago Bulls, 111-100.

Summary

It wasn’t a pretty start to an NBA game. There weren’t a lot of stoppages, which was good for the pace of play, but the quality wasn’t great. The Bulls scored efficiently, but they turned the ball over a lot. The Hornets protected the ball, but they didn’t score efficiently at all. Gordon Hayward had a nice stretch of play at the end of his time on the floor in the first quarter, but it was icy cold other than that. Non-Hayward Hornets made just 6-of-16 shots from the field and none of their six 3-point attempts.

The second quarter was more of the same badness. The Hornets made just two of their first 11 shot attempts of the period. The Bulls built a double digit lead, and the only reason it wasn’t worse was because of Bulls turnovers and Gordon Hayward. Both offenses looked like they had no ideas on how to consistently put the ball in the basket. The Hornets got a few buckets to end the half and only trailed by four at the break. Hayward had 19 of the team’s 44 points to that point.

The Hornets went ice cold to start the second half. They scored just four points in the first half of the third quarter as the Bulls broke open a very large lead. At one point, they scored on five straight possessions to open up a 19 point lead. Gordon Hayward, who had single handedly kept the Hornets afloat in the first half, barely found any openings to even attempt a shot as the game got away from the visitors. That 19 point deficit held true heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was always likely to be window dressing. The Hornets made a nominal run to narrow the deficit from as large as 22 to as little as 10 with just under five minutes to play thanks to some acrobatics by Terry Rozier, but the Bulls took a timeout top stop the run before it could become too threatening.

The Hornets

The Good

Gordon Hayward was the only Hornet that could generate any sort of offense for large stretches of the game. He didn’t do much in the third quarter but still finished with 27 points. Most of his buckets were self created. Just give the ball to Gordon and let him work, just like we always say.

The Hornets were disruptive defensively even if they gave up too many open looks. They generated nine steals and nine blocks and had 16 deflections. I wouldn’t be surprised if any combination of those is a season high. They did a really, really good job of giving the Bulls hell inside the 3-point line. Now, outside the 3-point line is a different story.

Terry Rozier was really good in the fourth quarter and made some crazy layups. A lot of it was pseudo-garbage time, but good basketball is good basketball.

The Bad

The Hornets 3-point shooting woes returned after a few good games. They ended up making 10 of their 27 attempts, but even that feels generous given how poorly they shot the ball when the game was still in the balance. The three highest volume 3-point shooters for the game–Terry Rozier, PJ Washington, and Miles Bridges combined to go 4-of-26 from deep.

The Hornets offense in general just looks bland. The Bulls have been a meh defensive team at best, and the Hornets made them look uncrackable. If the Hornets didn’t get out and run, they struggled to get any good looks at that basket. It’s been a recurring problem all season and probably won’t go away as long as LaMelo Ball is out and/or Steve Clifford is the coach. It’s just kind of where we’re at right now.

The Bulls grabbed 21 offensive rebounds against the Hornets 30 defensive rebounds. That’s an atrocious rebounding percentage. It wasn’t just the bigs for the Bulls either. Guard Adam Caruso chased down four offensive caroms. Forwards Patrick Williams and Torrey Craig reeled in three apiece. It seems Steve Clifford’s rant about this after the loss to the Timberwolves did not sink in here.

Speaking of that postgame presser, the Hornets put the Bulls on the line 29 times. I don’t know if those issues are going to vanish suddenly at some point this season.

Brandon Miller had arguably his worst half as a pro in the first half. He was 0-for-7 from the field and scored just one point. Most of his shot attempts were forced and he didn’t look comfortable. He bounced back in the second half, which is the resiliency you want to see, but that first half was hard to watch.

Ish Smith played 14 minutes, attempted zero shots, and had two turnovers to three assists. I’m not quite sure what he’s so much better at to warrant this much burn in a bad season with young players withering on the bench.

What’s Next

The Hornets will play their second and final In-Season Tournament loser consolation game on Friday against the Raptors.