Nick Smith Jr. made five straight 3-pointers as part of a 17 point fourth quarter, but the Charlotte Hornets dug themselves too deep of a whole in the third quarter for it to matter. They lost to the Denver Nuggets, 102-95.

Summary

The Hornets got off to a very good start. They quickly rushed out to an 8-0 lead and then extended that to a 14-4 advantage. Cody Martin got his first minutes in almost a year and was tasked with covering Michael Porter Jr. Porter gave him a nice return present of two 3-pointers splashed in his face. It was part of a Nuggets run that evened up the game. Miles Bridges hit a tough pull-up 3-pointer to end the quarter that closed out a personal run that gave the Hornets a lead after one quarter. During the run, Brandon Miller got landed on driving for a layup. He left the game at the next stoppage and went straight to the locker room.

PJ Washington exploded in the second quarter. He scored 13 of the Hornets first 17 points in the quarter as the two teams traded baskets the entire time. At about the 2:30 mark of the quarter, something came over the Hornets and they became the most athletic team in NBA history. Miles Bridges had two thunderous dunks, one of which was at the receiving end of a Nick Richards lob that looked way to high, and that lob came right after Nick barely missed a huge alley-oop of his own. On the other end, Richards swatted a Jamal Murray layup attempt, which led to a runout that ended in a Gordon Hayward dunk. The outburst helped the Hornets to a 60-54 lead at the half.

The Hornets did not carry that momentum into the second half. They missed their first twelve shots of the second half and turned the ball over four times, and the Nuggets took advantage with 17 straight points. The Hornets took two timeouts during the run to try to get on the same page. It took a defensive 3 seconds and a technical free throw of all things to get the Hornets their first point of the half, and that came six minutes and 16 seconds into the half. They earned their own points when Bridges got fouled at the 3:26 mark and made both free throws. At that point, the Nuggets had outscored the Hornets 25-3 in the third quarter. The Hornets eventually made two consecutive field goals. They both came with under one minute left in the quarter, and they followed 19 straight misses and five turnovers. The Hornets were outscored 30-9 in the quarter and went into the fourth down 15.

The Hornets made a big rally in the fourth, and a lot of that was due to the hot shooting of Nick Smith Jr. He hit five 3-pointers in rapid succession and scored 17 points in the quarter as the Hornets pulled within four points. The Nuggets tried to force feed Nikola Jokic, and Nick Richards did a good job of bodying him up and making it tough for the Nuggets to find entry passes. The Nuggets know how to win games though. They were able to grind out enough successful possessions to keep the Hornets at bay. The game was essentially sealed when the Hornets got called for a 5-second call trying to inbound the ball on the baseline with 42 seconds left. That’s been a recurring problem in recent weeks, and it proved to be the final nail in the coffin tonight.

The Good

This stretch at the end of the second quarter.

CAUTION: Only watch if you like dunks and lots of fun⚠️#HornetsHighlight pic.twitter.com/xRjYsqHXeU

— Bally Sports: Hornets (@HornetsOnBally) December 24, 2023

Nick Smith Jr. looked like a guy that’s ready to get rotation minutes. He plays with a burst that’s lacking on a lot of the Hornets roster, and his aggression the ball is badly needed with the other guards out of the lineup. There’s no way the Hornets can justify keeping him out of the lineup at this point, even if the whole team is healthy. He’s part of the future and he looks like a guy that’ll help the Hornets win now should that be what they care about. The Hornets were +6 with him on the floor in a game they lost by seven.

Cody Martin looked good in his return. He had a nice mid range jumper in the fourth and a savvy drive in the second. He didn’t put up much in the box score, but that’s not what this is about right now. It was good to see him back on the floor and looking healthy. Hopefully his knee holds up going forward.

The Hornets were very active defensively. They blocked 11 shots and registered eight steals and had many other deflections that won’t show up in the box score. Limiting the Nuggets to 102 points and 43% shooting is a huge accomplishment. That’s the kind of defense the Hornets need to play if they’re going to have any success.

The Bad

Brandon Miller got landed on and left the game. He came back to the bench and it was originally reported that he would come back into the game, but the team changed course a few minutes later and ruled him out for the evening. The Hornets can never seem to add to their health. Cody Martin returns for his first game all season, then Terry Rozier becomes a late scratch and Brandon Miller gets hurt. No team in the NBA is more snake bitten right now.

The injuries are a big part of this, but the Hornets don’t even look like they practice team offense. In that dreadful third quarter, the Hornets did little more than take turns straight line driving to the basket or shooting step back jumpers. It wasn’t just them missing shots. They weren’t even threatening attempting good shots. It’s tough without your two top ball handlers, but you’d like to see a little more semblance of a system that wasn’t 100% reliant on the talent of its play makers to get a decent look every now and then. It looked a little better in the fourth quarter, but that was more a product of Nick Smith getting otherworldly hot from deep than it was a product of cohesive basketball.

The Hornets have gotten called for five seconds almost every game in the last week or two. It’s a call you very rarely see in an NBA game. It’s ridiculous that it’s been a recurring problem for the Hornets, especially when it’s a problem in the same spot every time–the baseline. Find some new plays to run down there.