SUMMARY
Brandon Miller hit a smooth shot fake and stepped into a mid-range pull-up for the first bucket of the night. The Hornets were ahead at the first timeout break with the help of some unforced turnovers, getting out to an early 15-7 lead. With Terry Rozier powering the offense, Charlotte went on a 20-8 run over the latter half of the first quarter and held Toronto to 19 points and 38.9% FG as a team to head into the second leading 27-19.
It was Bryce McGowens time in the second quarter. The 21-year-old logged 7 points and 3 rebounds in the frame, recording a timely three, block on OG Anunoby and tough wrong-leg layup sequence that pushed the lead into double digits, 43-32. PJ Washington notched four steals in the first half, tying his career-high for a single game — Charlotte’s defensive rotations were sharp and players displayed active hands in the first half, after which the Hornets led 52-48. Toronto closed the second on a 16-9 run to catch up.
Rozier got up to 18 points early in the third quarter but picked up his fourth foul soon after. With the Hornets up seven when he hit the bench, Miller and McGowens held it down in his stead. The Raptors slowly chipped away, though, eventually taking its first lead of the night, 71-70, on a pair of Dennis Schröder free throws. Charlotte edged back in front, 81-79 by the time the third quarter closed.
The Hornets led 85-83 early in the final frame before giving up a back-breaking 12-2 run that put them behind by eight points with just over seven minutes to go. By then, all the momentum had swung towards the Raptors after they’d come back playing from behind all game. Toronto’s fourth quarter run built to 23-12 by the four-minute mark, and Charlotte just completely ran out of gas down the stretch. Consistency died on both ends of the floor and the Hornets dropped its fifth game in a row despite leading for the first 32 minutes of the contest. The Raptors outscored the Hornets 35-18 in the fourth quarter, accounting for the entirety of the 15-point deficit at the buzzer.
Fun fact from tonight’s game: Washington made his 500th career 3-pointer, becoming the seventh player in Hornets franchise history to reach that mark. He joined LaMelo Ball, Dell Curry, Glen Rice, Terry Rozier, Kemba Walker and Marvin Williams in the exclusive club.
The good
Leaky Black and Nick Smith Jr. provided a jolt of energy off the bench. Quality minutes for the rookies, especially Black — this was probably the best game of his young career. Both players took advantage of the opportunity at hand and filled their roles well.
Energy and effort were a strong positive for most of the game, which is especially notable given the injury/legal situation circumstances that left them with 10 available bodies. Running out of gas at the end sucks, but the Hornets were much more competitive than they were last time out. I thought they responded well to that historic loss.
Tonight’s Good Game Award goes to: Miller, McGowens and Richards. Miller let the game come to him and didn’t allow 3-point shooting struggles to affect his scoring mentality. McGowens was aggressive in hunting his shot and played hard on defense. Richards was great on the glass, recording his third double double of year, and stayed out of foul trouble on a night when he was desperately needed.
the bad
The Hornets played with great pace in the first half, but it dropped off in the second half. Charlotte had 15 fastbreak points at halftime but finished with only 17. They were consistently pushing ball up court off makes, misses, turnovers, keeping Toronto’s defense honest. It’s understandable that guys were probably a bit gassed, but it’s the NBA. Everyone gets tired. Gotta keep your foot on the gas down the stretch.
Overall, the team was fairly inefficient tonight. Washington shot 5-16, Miller was 6-16 (0-5 3P), Ish Smith was 4-10 and Nick Smith Jr. was 3-9. It’s not a bad thing on its face, but there were some easy ones that got left on the table throughout the game, and clearly it added up once the team sputtered out in the fourth quarter.
