Charlotte Hornets got sick enough of mediocrity to do something about it

Sometimes simplicity is the most apt form of analysis.

Asked what got into his players in a 113-78 rout of the Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Hornets coach Steve Clifford replied, "They just got sick of not playing well."

They should have been sick of it. They were swept in a five-game road trip, and while the Philadelphia 76ers are notably better of late than their 14-26 season record suggests, the Hornets should have at least emerged from that that road swing 1-4.

The Hornets’ defense had deteriorated so thoroughly of late that Clifford had called it a joke. Now they are on a two-game winning streak, and the common ground in beating the Portland Trail Blazers Wednesday and Raptors Friday was smart, intense defense.

The Raptors, 28-15, are second in the NBA this season in offensive efficiency, averaging 1.117 points per possession. They looked nothing like efficient Friday, shooting 34 percent from the field and 23 percent from 3-point range.

In particular, Hornets small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist did a fine job on Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan, one the NBA’s top five scorers. DeRozan finished with 23 points, five below his average. Kidd-Gilchrist challenged DeRozan’s mid-range game without fouling constantly. DeRozan finished with six free throws attempted, nearly three below his average this season.

With Kidd-Gilchrist making it tough on DeRozan, selected Thursday as an All-Star starter, there weren’t many alternative scorers on the Raptors roster. Point guard Kyle Lowry finished with 24 points, but he did so on 7-of-18 shooting from the field. The only other Raptor to reach 10 points was center Jonas Valanciunas. He totaled a quiet 11, plus six rebounds.

Here’s how off the Raptors were Friday: They finished this game with 10 assists, seven below what any previous Hornets opponent totaled this season.

While it’s true that the Raptors guards tend to go one-on-one a lot, limiting an NBA team to 10 assists is pretty remarkable.

Speaking of remarkable, Hornets point guard Kemba Walker finished with 32 points and eight assists without playing a second of the fourth quarter. This was Walker’s 30^th game scoring 20 or more points this season.

Neither Walker nor Clifford can avoid questions about Walker’s candidacy to be an All-Star reserve. It’s fair to say they are both a little tired of that story line. Walker went into Clifford’s office recently to say he didn’t care whether the Eastern Conference coaches name him an All-Star, that what matters is getting the Hornets back on track.

Clifford reiterated Friday there is no maybe that Walker’s body of work this season is All Star-worthy. The issue will be whether the glut of quality Eastern Conference point guards, including Lowry, will leave Walker outside the 12-man roster headed to New Orleans next month.

All-Star selection is out of Walker’s control. Winning games is not. The Hornets had gone 0-7 this season against the East’s top three teams – the Cleveland Cavaliers, Raptors and Boston Celtics.

Friday was a most emphatic way of changing that story line, too. Like Clifford said, they were finally sick enough of their own performance to do something about it.

This story was originally published January 20, 2017 at 10:47 PM with the headline "Charlotte Hornets got sick enough of mediocrity to do something about it."