After a beatdown at the hands of the Phoenix Suns, Charlotte traveled through treacherous weather to take on the Washington Wizards in the nation’s capital. Things started off bad for the Hornets, as the Wizards took a 38-25 lead in the first quarter. Charlotte continued their trend of playing bad defense in 1st quarters, but the 2nd quarter is where they turned it around. Led by Miles Bridges and Gordon Hayward, the Hornets outscored the Wizards 39-18 in the 2nd quarter. Charlotte would push its lead to 14 before Bradley Beal got going in the 3rd quarter. Despite Beal’s efforts the Hornets were able to take a six-point lead into the 4th quarter. Washington started the 4th quarter quickly with a 11-0 run. Hayward got Charlotte’s offense in the 4th quarter going with five straight points, then Terry Rozier put the Hornets back on top 100-98 with a three-point basket. The two teams went back and forth trading buckets. Terry Rozier scored seven straight points, but Kyle Kuzma hit three daggers from behind the arc to put the Wizards ahead. Ultimately, the Hornets would fall to the Wizards 124-121. Bradley Beal scored 35 points and Kyle Kuzma scored 36 points for the Wizards. Here are some observations from tonight’s game.
1st and 4th Quarter Defense Dooms Hornets: The Hornets started off the game giving up 38 points in the first quarter and 36 points in the final quarter. Defense has been a problem all year for Charlotte and they couldn’t get stops when they needed it tonight.
Little Production from the Bench: Corey Kispert and Davis Bertans outscored the Hornets’ bench by themselves 26-20. Washington was short handed and only played 8 guys, but one of those guys, Alize Johnson, only played 6 minutes, so essentially Washington played a 7-man rotation. Not a great game for the Hornets’ bench.
Free Throw Disparity. The Hornets weren’t getting the benefit of the whistle and it showed in the stat sheet. Washington shot 28-31 from the foul line, while the Hornets only attempted 13 free throws – making seven of them. Often the Hornets would get hacked and bark at the officials. Coach James Borrego got a technical foul voicing his displeasure with the officiating, but it didn’t make much difference.
Tough Game for LaMelo: LaMelo didn’t have his best game tonight. He was 8-21 from the floor, but only 2-9 from three and took some questionable shots down the stretch. After recording only one assist vs the Suns last night LaMelo would only have two assists tonight. The Hornets will need LaMelo to bounce back as they have two games vs the Bucks in the next week.
Charlotte takes on the Pistons Wednesday, starting a three-game home stand. The other two games at the Spectrum Center are against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo.