Stephon Castle and the Spurs couldn’t stop the Hornets (Photo via X)
A red-hot Charlotte Hornets squad ran away from the San Antonio Spurs in the Frost Bank Center by a final score of 145-134. In reality, the final score doesn’t truly describe how thoroughly dominated the Spurs were on this night.
San Antonio’s defense was powerless from the opening tip. The Hornets hit 18 three-pointers in the first half alone and finished 26-for-46 (56.5%) from beyond the arc. Charlotte was on pace for damn near 160 points before the Hornets showed mercy and let up during garbage time.
The Spurs, 27-38, were playing their first game since learning that De’Aaron Fox would miss the rest of the season due to finger surgery. But, yeah, that’s obviously not a satisfactory excuse for how poorly the good guys played tonight.
Stats: Spurs vs. Hornets
spurs hornets grades
Spurs vs. Hornets – Final Grades
Devin Vassell
Vassell put up a team-high 14 points on the board in the first half to keep the Spurs from being totally embarrassed by halftime. His shotmaking was impressive tonight and I didn’t have an issue with his shot-selection. He didn’t do anything defensively — but neither did any of his teammates.
Grade: B+
Stephon Castle
Castle’s raw numbers look really good. Honestly, though, the rookie wasn’t as sublime as the numbers suggest. He was sloppy with the ball — both in terms of wonky ball-handling and ill-advised passes. Castle shot the ball well but he hoisted a few questionable attempts. His playmaking and defense were attributes that were missing in action.
Grade: C
Chris Paul
Paul was indeed as quiet as his statistics suggest. Three points and three assists in 18 minutes won’t get the job done. He was also mistake-prone on offense and a major liability on defense. In fact, he may have been the team’s biggest liability on D. The silver lining for Paul was his communication — both when he was on and off the court. His leadership was palpable throughout despite the lopsided score.
Grade: D
Harrison Barnes
Barnes cooled off but was still pretty good on the offensive end. He drove with purpose and launched perimeter shots with touch. Defensively, Barnes was definitely part of the problem.
Grade: C+
Bismack Biyombo
Biyombo was active on defense. He wasn’t able to move the needle on that end but he was one of the few who acted like he wanted to stop Charlotte from lighting the scoreboard on fire. Offensively, Biyombo wasn’t too helpful. He didn’t attempt a shot and turned it over twice. That said, he was screening and passing relatively well.
Grade: B-
Blake Wesley
Wesley looked like the Wesley who supplied boundless electricity early in the season. Offensively, he used his speed well. Defensively, the hustle never stopped and he was able to make a couple of the better defensive plays of the night — which, of course, isn’t saying a whole.
Grade: B
Keldon Johnson
Johnson was inefficient offensively, which is noteworthy because he’s been shooting great since the All-Star break. I liked Johnson’s passing and his work on the glass. Defensively, he joined the countless number of listless defenders wearing Silver and Black.
Grade: C
Julian Champagnie
It was great to see Champagnie shoot it straight following his recent slump. I was also impressed that he battled through a few bad calls that went against him. Champagnie’s will to scratch and claw was notable on a night where many of his teammates failed to compete.
Grade: B+
Sandro Mamukelashvili
The good: Mamukelashvili poured in 13 points in 17 minutes. He shot a lot but was accurate enough to avoid criticism. Mamu also deserves applause for his three offensive rebounds, two steals and two blocks. As those numbers show, he was very aggressive and lively on both ends. The bad: Mamu didn’t get a defensive rebound. His defense looked painfully bad on a handful of possessions.
Grade: B
Jeremy Sochan
There was a stretch when Sochan scoring was the only thing San Antonio had going. He finished with 14 points in 16 minutes. He was physical in the paint and, on a related note, shot six free throws. Sochan pulled down four offensive rebounds but, like Mamu, went without a defensive rebound. His defense on the whole was underwhelming.
Grade: B-
Harrison Ingram
Playing seven minutes of garbage time, Ingram was able to score his first NBA basket. The second round pick hustled on defense but didn’t really do anything out of the ordinary on either end.
Grade: Inc.
Jordan McLaughlin
McLaughlin has a good looking jumper. His passing also appears to be a strength.
Grade: Inc.
Malaki Branham
Branham hit a couple three-pointers in garbage time, which is always good to see.
Grade: Inc.
Mitch Johnson
Johnson doesn’t escape blame for a defensive showing this bad. His troops were obviously not ready to play on that end of the court. There’s not much to complain about offensively but this has to go down as one of the worst defensive performances in franchise history.
Grade: D