The Charlotte Hornets were swept in the season series by a Washington Wizards team that is 7-48 against the rest of the NBA.
The Summary
The early goings weren’t the cleanest brand of basketball. The Hornets struggled to make shots for much of the first quarter, but some energy plays by Josh Green and Damion Baugh led to easy looks. There was a brief oasis of made shots in the early parts of the second quarter as the Hornets built a ten point lead, but the Wizards were able to cut into it by halftime.
Everything went south real fast in the third quarter. The Wizards started cashing in all their threes while the Hornets simply didn’t make shots. In the blink of an eye, the Wizards blew past the Hornets to take their own double digit lead. Charlotte went over three minutes without a point in the later parts of the quarter and went into the fourth down nine.
The Hornets had a 5 on 2 fast break down nine a few minutes into fourth. LaMelo Ball pulled up for three and missed it, then Moussa Diabate missed a short floater after an offensive rebound. The Wizards went down and scored on the other end. That point felt like the Hornets weren’t going to be able to win this game. That proved to be the case. They never went on the run they needed to make the game competitive and watched time tick away with a double figure deficit.
The Good
Mark Williams had a good offensive game. The Wizards don’t have anyone to compete with him, and it was good to see him take advantage.
Josh Green was quiet in the second half, but his activity level on both ends of the floor was a big factor in the Hornets winning the first half. When he’s more assertive like he was last night, he’s a good player for this team.
The Hornets scored 100 points after failing to reach that mark in four straight games.
The Bad
The bench was badly overmatched by the Wizards’. Five players came off the bench to play 67 total minutes and score 13 points on 18 shots. Tidjane Salaün and Damion Baugh continue the coldest concurrent shooting streaks I think I’ve ever seen.
Nick Smith Jr. has shot sub-36% from the field in five straight games. I just didn’t like his play in this one in particular. He seemed more erratic than usual.
LaMelo Ball finished with 20 points but he was more of a passenger than a driver. I don’t know if it’s a lack of rhythm due to all of the starting and sitting or struggling to get up for meaningless games, but he was not a noticeable figure for long stretches of the game.
What’s Next
The Hornets get a significantly tougher visitor as Stephen Curry and the Warriors come to town on Monday.
