The Charlotte Hornets managed just 32 first half points on their way to a blowout loss from the Orlando Magic, 112-92.

The Summary

Both team’s struggled to score in the game’s early going. Vasilije Micic was the only Hornet to score for the first half of the first quarter, while the Magic kept stepping out of bounds and otherwise committing dead ball turnovers. Brandon Miller finally became the first non-Micic Hornet to score with a top of the key three. The Magic eventually started finding offense in transition and off cuts while the Hornets never got untracked.

The Hornets trailed by ten after one, and it only got worse from there. They continued to struggle with the Magic’s physical, high pressing defense. It was a chore to simply start an offensive set, and the turnovers started coming fast and furious. To make matters worse, for the second consecutive game, a Hornets player was ejected for a questionable flagrant two foul. Davis Bertans tried to free himself from Jalen Suggs, who was holding his arm, and caught Suggs with his elbow. It was a strikingly similar call to the one that resulted in Brandon Miller’s ejection in the previous game. Grant Williams took issue with the situation and set a hard screen on Suggs on the next possession, which led to words and technicals assessed to both players. While all that was going on, Cole Anthony was scoring 17 second quarter points while making all seven shots he took in the period. At its worst, the Hornets trailed by 41. A pair of Micic threes cut the deficit to 35 heading into the half. The Hornets finished the first half with 12 made shots and 13 turnovers.

Miles Bridges made four straight shots to start the third, but the Hornets couldn’t make up any ground initially because they kept getting back cut on the other end of the floor. Brandon Miller scored 13 points by making five straight shots to lead the Hornets on a run to trim the deficit to under 30. A 33 point third quarter had the Hornets trailing by 26 heading into the fourth quarter.

That fourth quarter wasn’t relevant. Neither team played their regular rotation players for long. The Hornets got eight points from Nick Smith Jr, who continues to impress in mop up duty. Otherwise, there was nothing worth noting.

The Good

Vasilije Micic was the Hornets best player when the game was pseudo-competitive in the first half. He only finished with one assist, but that was more a product of his teammates’ struggles than any shortcoming on his part. He was the only Hornet that didn’t look overly uncomfortable with the Magic’s defensive style, and that showed up in how efficiently he scored. He scored 18 of the Hornets’ 32 first half points.

The third quarter was good. Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges both displayed some impressive shot making. You’d like to see the Hornets play that way earlier on.

The Bad

The Hornets didn’t look like a professional basketball team against the Magic defensive pressure. The Magic kept pressure on the ball and took away actions off the ball. The Hornets responded by frequently retreating with their dribble and hesitating to make their moves. Their sets regularly got blown up and there were more than a handful of possessions where the Hornets didn’t even start to move towards the basket until there were fewer than 10 seconds on the shot clock. They never gave themselves a chance to score, and they don’t have the talent to score with such little ball and player movement.

On that note, the Magic’s offense really makes you realize how unproductive the Hornets offensive system is. It’s not all on the coaching–the players need to have better awareness too–but the Magic had so many easy baskets that didn’t require any individual brilliance. They frequently beat the Hornets on cuts and aggressive passing towards the basket. It was a stark contrast from a Hornets offense that rarely has any meaningful off ball motion towards the basket or ball movement outside of basic pick and roll sets.

NBA refs ejecting players for routine flagrant fouls. Bertans, while a little aggressive trying to shed Jalen Suggs, should not have been ejected for the play. It was just like the Brandon Miller ejection. Let the boys play a little bit.

Aleksej Pokusevski has started showing why the Thunder were okay letting him go. His skill level is definitely eye opening, but the decision making can be so bad at times that it negates the skill. He turned the ball over three times and had a couple other moments where he was beaten to loose balls that you probably would’ve favored him to win.

It’d be easy to forget that Nick Richards even played. He finished with four points and six rebounds in 28 minutes of play, and two of those points and two of those rebounds came withe less than two minutes left in the game that was long over and done with.

What’s Next

The Hornets have three more days off before visiting the Hawks on Saturday.