The Charlotte Hornets to protect both the basketball and the basket as they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Summary
LaMelo Ball and Darius Garland went shot for shot to open the game. Both teams had no problem putting the ball in the basket when they got shots up, but the Hornets didn’t get as many shots up as they struggled to take care of the ball. The second unit was able to reverse that and give Charlotte a lead after one quarter. Ball and Knueppel spurred an early second quarter run to boost the lead a bit, but more live ball turnovers again wiped that away. They let the Cavs put up 70 first half points and trailed by seven at intermission.
The Hornets fittingly started the second half by turning the ball over on their first possession and having it lead to an and-1 on the other end. Moussa Diabate and Brandon Miller tried to keep the Hornets in it, but they couldn’t keep pace with a Cavs team that caught fire. That was aided by a sequence where Diabate caught De’Andre Hunter with an elbow on an offensive foul and was called for a flagrant foul. Hunter made both free throws then hit a three on the possession the Cavs retained after the free throws. It was a nine point difference heading into the fourth.
Hunter was apparently fired up by the elbow to the nose. He went nuts in the first couple minutes of the fourth and gave the Cavs a comfortable double digit lead. His teammates joined in the fun and buried the Hornets under an avalanche of threes. The backups came in for the final few minutes of the fourth. They made the game closer but never threatened in earnest.
The Good
Moussa Diabate was a menace all night. The broadcast team couldn’t stop lauding him for his effort and tenacity. He had 14 rebounds (6 offensive) and 6 steals, and even those wildly impressive numbers don’t fully illustrate how much he mucked up the game. He created two potential 4-point plays by getting fouled battling for rebounding position while his teammate made a three. He was a complete nightmare for the Cavs.
Brandon Miller had an efficient night scoring from all over the floor. He caught fire in the third quarter and created and made a bunch of his own looks. I’d still like him to be a little quicker with some of his scoring attempts, but last night showed how lethal he can be when he gets rolling.
LaMelo Ball was the star of the first half. He bounced back nicely after getting flustered (maybe rightfully so) against the Pistons. He played very under control outside of a couple wild-ish heat checks early. He dished some dazzling assists and played a pretty good game as a whole.
The Peacock On the Bench broadcast was phenomenal. There was not a heavy slant towards the big brands like we’ve gotten used to seeing in the past, especially on ESPN. Robbie Hummel and Austin Rivers have clearly paid attention to this team and were pretty spot on with most of their takes. The NBA really crushed it with their new media deal.
The Bad
The turnovers were out of control. A majority of the turnovers were of the live ball variety, and the Cavs didn’t have to work particularly hard to get a lot of them. There were several instances of guys driving without a plan and then throwing guess passes hoping a teammate would bail them out. The Hornets defense is bad as is. They can’t afford to make it worse by spoon feeding their opponents transition opportunities.
The defense was lackluster. They were somewhat unfortunate with how well the Cavs shot, but they also didn’t do anything to make the Cavs uncomfortable. There were a couple possessions in the fourth quarter where the defense turned up and bothered the Cavs, but it was far too little too late. Most possessions featured lazy switches and guys getting beat off the dribble leading to rotations that weren’t sharp enough.
The injury bug bites again. Mason Plumlee left very early in the second half with a groin injury.
What’s Next
We’re right back at it in 24 hours. The Hornets are back in Charlotte to take on the Wizards tonight.