Happy Thanksgiving Charlotte Hornets fans. Your Hornets have won 7 out of 8 games, beating the Orlando Magic 106-99 Wednesday night. It wasn’t a pretty game at times, but the Hornets found a way to get a win on the road. Charlotte only shot 29% from three and 42% from the floor, but forced 11 steals, blocked 11 shots and scored 21 fast break points. Believe it or not, the NBA season is a quarter of the way complete and Charlotte is trending in the right direction. Here are some observations from last night’s game.
Strong Backcourt Play Continues:
Terry Rozier and LaMelo Ball once again lead the way for the Hornets. Rozier scored 27 points, while LaMelo chipped in with 22 points. LaMelo started the game fast – scoring 10 points in the 1st quarter, while Terry was steady throughout. Rozier has gotten into a much better rhythm coming off of his ankle injury and is looking like the player Charlotte signed to an extension in the offseason.
PJ Washington Returns:
He only played briefly, but it was nice to see PJ Washington return to the lineup. He will add another body to a Hornets frontline that has been overmatched at times this season. PJ gives the Hornets a small ball five or an option at the four.
Strong Game from Kelly:
Kelly Oubre was very good off the bench vs the Magic, scoring 21 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. Oubre was a team-leading +16 when he was on the floor. The Hornets are a different team when Oubre is playing well. Through 20 games, Oubre is averaging 13 points and 4 rebounds.
Where is Gordon:
Gordon Hayward is getting paid too much money to play the way he did last night. Hayward was 0-6 from the floor and scored 1 point in 25 minutes. There have been too many times this season when Hayward has played passive and not asserted himself into the game. Fortunately, against a young Orlando team, the Hornets can get away with a performance like that, but against tougher competition Hayward will have to be better. The Hornets’ schedule gets much tougher next week with road games against Chicago, Milwaukee and Atlanta.
Charlotte will look to finish this week strong against Minnesota on Black Friday, then on the road against the Rockets on Saturday as they aim to finish this week winning 9 out of their last 10 games.
