Mark Williams scored a career high 38 points as the Charlotte Hornets couldn’t overcome a poor first half in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, 132-120.

The summary

The game was actually even for a little while. Both teams played fast and both teams made a lot of their shots. Problems arose as the players rotated in off the bench. The Grizzlies kept their foot on the gas while the Hornets started to sputter. Memphis put 38 points on the board in the first quarter and led by 13 at the first intermission.

That same story continued into the second quarter. The Hornets did a decent job matching the Grizzlies pace and energy, but they simply couldn’t make shots. After a while, it seemed like the Hornets maybe got a bit caught up in the speed of the game and committed some sloppy, rushed turnovers. What had been a slowly increasing lead turned into an onslaught late in the half as Luke Kennard and Desmond Bane poured it on. Kennard hit six first half threes and the Grizzlies led by as many as 32. Mark Williams, who had been MIA up to this point, got a couple buckets on leak outs to turn the momentum, but the Hornets still trailed by 30 at the break.

The Hornets got into the bonus in less than four minutes and Mark continued the feasting he started in the first half, but the Hornets still lost ground to the Grizzlies. Memphis made a barrage of buckets entirely off the hands of Jaylen Wells and Jay Huff. The Hornets’ deficit hovered in the 30s for much of the third quarter. They started getting stops on the defensive end late and used that to put together a 12-0 run to make it a more respectable margin heading into the fourth.

The Grizzlies went back to their starters to try to close the game out early in the fourth, but the Hornets wouldn’t let that happen so easily. They continued to feed Mark Williams around the basket, and he vacuumed in every pass and threw it in. The game was never really in doubt, but the Hornets did keep it close enough that the Grizzlies had to keep some of their key players on the floor. Williams hit a pair of free throws to get to points 37 and 38 with three minutes to go, but he didn’t get an opportunity to take a shot at his first 40 burger.

The Good

I gave Mark Williams a little bit of flak for getting outplayed by opposing centers in the Hornets’ last two games, so he’s obviously got to get the credit when he dominates like he did tonight. He scored 38 points, hauled in nine rebounds, and still managed to find time to dish out five assists. He got off to a rough start, but it seems at some point he was reminded that he’s very big and very good. The Grizzlies had absolutely no answer for Mark in the second half, and you could see his confidence growing as the game went on. He’s now averaging 25 points, 14 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. He’s playing like an elite center right now.

The Hornets pretty convincingly outplayed the Grizzlies in the second half of the game, and even more so in the final quarter and a half or so. This wasn’t a matter of the Horntes racking up a bunch of points in garbage time. They made it a legitimately competitive ball game. It goes down as a loss, but it feels like a continuation of the good stretch of play the Hornets are in right now.

The Bad

Non-Mark Williams Hornets shot about 43% from inside the arc. It’s been a bit of a recurring theme this season–the Hornets are heavily reliant on their three ball for their offense because their finishing around the basket can be so lacking. There was a significant chunk of the game where that number was worse, but it improved during the much better second half. This is clearly not something that’s going to get better this season. It’s just a matter of player improvement, whether that be internally or via acquisitions.

What’s Next

The Hornets get a chance to come home and unpack their bags. They get nine straight games at home starting with the suddenly not terrible Pelicans.