Recap/Analysis: Hornets summer league win streak snapped by Pelicans

The Charlotte Hornets played a brutal second half and squandered a double digit lead to lose their first summer league game in a couple of years.

The Summary

The Hornets got off to a blistering start led by Liam McNeeley and Tidjane Salaün and broke open a double digit lead within the first few minutes of the game. They ended up making 13 of their 17 first quarter shots. That slowed down the second quarter, obviously. They were still able to keep their distance from the Pelicans and took an 11 point lead into the half.

The Hornets kept their lead into the second half, which quickly turned into a whistle-fest. The Pelicans cut into the Hornets lead a little but, some nice shot making by Christian Anderson helped pull the Hornets back ahead. The lead wouldn’t last though, the Hornets went ice cold through the fourth quarter and turned the ball over en masse, allowing the Pelicans to rally from a double digit deficit to take the lead late. A turnover on a jump ball then a turnover on the ensuing possession proved a perfect end to a very difficult second half.

The Good

Most of this going to be centered around the first half because the second half was such a train wreck. The one exception was Christian Anderson, who seemed to find a little bit of rhythm in the second half. He played more decisively and was more aggressive with his passing. He didn’t get credit for any assists but he made a few passes that can really unlock an offense. Now we just need him to find his outside shot.

Liam McNeeley looks like a player. Much to the consternation of Stan Van Gundy (probably, based on how he commentated the Hornets’ first game), McNeeley was given a lot of ball handling responsibility, and he showed a lot of positive moments with it. His handle was pretty smooth and he made some nice plays from teammates. And he continued to get downhill and draw fouls. He struggled with ball pressure in the second half, but all in all it was another very good performance.

Tidjane Salaün looked like a stud for like five minutes.

Hannes Steinbach had a quiet game on the whole, but I always come away impressed by how quick and strong his hands are when he’s tracking down rebounds.

The Bad

That second half was a drag to watch for a couple different reasons. For one, the Hornets simply played bad. They couldn’t make shots and they struggled to initiate offense against the Pelicans ball pressure. I don’t think it helped that the game was so stop and start with all the whistles. I don’t necessarily think it was poorly officiated, but it felt like there was a whistle on just about every possession.

The turnovers were out of control. Not only were there a ton (22 in total), it was the nature of them. Lots of hurried passes, lobs flying into the 10th row, dribbles to nowhere.