LaMelo Ball scored 25 points, but that wasn’t enough to overcome cold outside shooting against hot shooting from Kawhi Leonard as the Charlotte Hornets lost to the Clippers.
The Summary
The game started as a bit of a defensive struggle. The Hornets did a good job of goading the Clippers into 3-pointers that are good shooters, namely Kris Dunn. The only real offense the Clippers were able to generate came from Harden’s ball handling. On the other end of the floor, the Hornets struggled with their own outside shooting, but did enough inside the arc to edge ahead. The Clippers chipped away at that and took a two point lead into the half after some dreadful shooting on both sides. Both teams shot under 40% from the field and combined to go 9-of-41 from three.
The Hornets had to withstand an offensive explosion from Kawhi Leonard in the third quarter. Harden chipped in some, but it was really the Kawhi show. The usual suspects responded for the visitors. First, Brandon Miller made some thoroughly impressive layups, then Kon Knueppel added a couple of buckets, and finally LaMelo caught fire to even things back up. The Clippers led by two heading into the fourth quarter.
There were more fireworks in the first quarter. Clippers role players started hitting shots with the Hornets giving extra attention to Kawhi. Tre Mann matched them on the other end. A pair of James Harden step back threes gave the Clippers an eight point edge without about six minutes to play, and that spurred a run that eventually put them up double digits. The Hornets missed a few easy shots and seemed to run out of gas. LaMelo made a few tough shots to extend the game a little, but the Hornets couldn’t combine stops and rebounds on the other end to give themselves a chance.
The good
We’ll have to remove 3-point shooting from the analysis because nobody could shoot. LaMelo played a really strong game otherwise. He had some wild finishes in and around traffic in the paint. He didn’t move the ball as much as he normally does, but that was kind of a product of circumstance given that the Hornets weren’t making their shots around him. He kept the Hornets in the game at times during the second half.
Like LaMelo, Kon did not have a good game shooting from deep. He only attempted three 3-pointers and didn’t make any, but his game inside the arc was phenomenal. The only 2-pointer he missed was a wild floater that looked like it was just as much an opportunity for Moussa Diabate to get an offensive rebound as it was a legitimate attempt at making a basket. He hit his patented short jumpers and set a career high with three dunks.
Tre Mann answered the bell with Collin Sexton out. He stepped in and played pretty much exactly the same role that the Hornets would have gotten otherwise. He was instant offense off the bench and I was impressed with his defensive engagement when he got switched onto the Clippers stars.
Moussa Diabate had a really, really good game against the team that drafted him then kicked him to the curb. He did his usual damage on the glass, and he added more offensive juice than we usually see from him. He got a lot of looks in the short roll, and he used that to attack the Clippers’ slower bigs (especially Brook Lopez) as a driver. He also made good reads when help shifted over and kicked the ball out to shooters, even though most of the shots didn’t go in.
The Bad
The body language and intensity at the end of the game was weird. Like I said in the summary, it seemed like the Hornets ran out of gas, even though they were playing on a day’s rest. I don’t know if it was fatigue trying to match up with Hall of Famers Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, but the finish wasn’t as strong as you’d like.
The Hornets were just 10-of-33 from 3-point range. Not a lot to analyze here. The jump shots just didn’t go in. It’s a make or miss league. The Hornets simply missed too many shots to win the game.
What’s Next
This is fun. The Hornets get two days off between road games and stay in the same city. They won’t be back in action until Thursday, and that’ll be against Luka Doncic and the Lakers.