Charlotte Hornets reconvene for win over Brooklyn Nets
The week-long break from games for All-Star Weekend sure looked refreshing for Charlotte Hornets center Dwight Howard.
Howard, acquired in a June trade with the Atlanta Hawks, had a season-high 24 rebounds (two short of matching his career high) in a 111-96 victory over the Brooklyn Nets at Spectrum Center. The victory improved the Hornets to 25-33, their second consecutive victory. Just prior to the break, the Hornets beat the Orlando Magic on the road.
The Hornets spread their lead to 17 with two minutes left to secure the victory over the 19-41 Nets. Point guard Kemba Walker, fresh off his second All-Star Game appearance Sunday, finished with 31 points. All five Hornets starters reached double figures scoring.
This starts a busy stretch for the Hornets, with a road game Friday against the Washington Wizards. The Hornets won their first two games in that series this season.
Three who mattered
Howard: Fourteen rebounds in the first half alone says he came back refreshed from All-Star break.
D’Angelo Russell, Brooklyn: He’s not yet an NBA point guard, but he has lots of potential still, after the trade from the Lakers.
Dante Cunningham, Brooklyn: A strong game off the bench for the former Bobcat (22 points).
Observations
▪ Hornets coach Steve Clifford said backup center Cody Zeller is no longer on a minutes restriction, due to knee surgery, but Zeller is still working his way back to his game rhythm before the injury in early December.
▪ The Hornets entered this game as healthy as they have been all season; all 14 players were able to participate fully in scrimmage at practice Wednesday, following the All-Star break.
▪ Oddity in the Hornets’ 2017-18 schedule: Until Thursday they hadn’t played either of two Eastern Conference teams -- the Nets or the Philadelphia 76ers -- with two-thirds of the schedule completed. Seven of the Hornets’ last 25 regular-season games are against the Nets or Sixers.
▪ Stephanie Ready, a fixture on Hornets-Bobcats telecasts since the NBA returned to Charlotte in 2004, was instead part of a TNT new virtual-reality broadcast Thursday. She was color analyst for the Clippers-Warriors game on that platform.
▪ Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said he’s been very pleased with former Duke center Jahlil Okafor’s work ethic since the trade that brought him to the Nets from the Sixers. In particular, Atkinson noted how hard Okafor has worked to remake his body.
Worth mentioning
▪ Russell and DeMarre Carroll both drew technical fouls Thursday.
▪ The Hornets now jump into one of their busier stretches of the season: Five games in seven nights.
▪ New Hornet Willy Hernangomez made his debut, entering the game with a minute left.
They said it
“Jeremy’s mindset is I’m going to come back better than ever. That’s just how he thinks. He’s been extremely positive” – Nets coach Kenny Atkinson on how former Hornet Jeremy Lin is handling a torn patella tendon that has cost him this season.
“I think we had three or four guys who were physically, mentally drained there that last week (before All-Star break). I think he was one of those guys.” – Hornets coach Steve Clifford’s on Frank Kaminsky’s recent struggles.
“There are going to be times tonight when they have five guys out there who can shoot 3s.” – Clifford on how hard the Nets try to spread the floor.
Report card
B OFFENSE: Threes were key to the Hornets maintaining a lead in the first half.
B DEFENSE: Hornets for the most part did a good job against the Nets’ drive-and-kick offense.
B COACHING: They had two good practices before a slew of games on the horizon.
Rick Bonnell: 704-358-5129, @rick_bonnell
HORNETS 111, NETS 96
Brooklyn | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Carroll | 32:23 | 2-12 | 2-2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Crabbe | 31:07 | 4-15 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
Allen | 26:23 | 4-7 | 1-2 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
Dinwiddie | 33:41 | 5-14 | 1-1 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 12 |
Russell | 32:17 | 7-16 | 3-3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 19 |
Harris | 29:05 | 4-8 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 |
Cunningham | 26:38 | 8-12 | 2-4 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 22 |
Acy | 24:14 | 1-6 | 0-0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Whitehead | 2:06 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Stauskas | 2:06 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 240:00 | 36-93 | 10-14 | 41 | 27 | 23 | 96 |
Percentages: FG .387, FT .714. 3-Point Goals: 14-43, .326 (Cunningham 4-7, Harris 3-5, Crabbe 3-7, Russell 2-7, Dinwiddie 1-5, Acy 1-6, Whitehead 0-1, Carroll 0-5). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 9 (10 PTS). Blocked Shots: 8 (Allen 2, Acy, Carroll, Cunningham, Dinwiddie, Harris, Russell). Turnovers: 9 (Russell 3, Harris 2, Acy, Allen, Carroll, Dinwiddie). Steals: 6 (Crabbe 2, Harris 2, Acy, Allen). Technical Fouls: Russell, 00:34 first; Carroll, 8:22 third.
Charlotte | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Kidd-Gilchrist | 23:27 | 4-7 | 5-5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
Williams | 25:28 | 3-8 | 2-2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
Howard | 29:54 | 6-14 | 3-7 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
Batum | 31:48 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 10 |
Walker | 35:01 | 12-22 | 3-3 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 31 |
Lamb | 23:10 | 4-11 | 0-0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
Kaminsky | 22:32 | 1-5 | 1-1 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Zeller | 16:43 | 3-5 | 2-2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
Carter-Williams | 16:01 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
Graham | 11:47 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Monk | 1:23 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Hernangomez | 1:23 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bacon | 1:23 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 240:00 | 42-87 | 16-20 | 54 | 29 | 15 | 111 |
Percentages: FG .483, FT .800. 3-Point Goals: 11-21, .524 (Walker 4-8, Williams 3-5, Batum 2-4, Kaminsky 1-2, Lamb 1-2). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 14 (14 PTS). Blocked Shots: 6 (Batum, Carter-Williams, Hernangomez, Howard, Kidd-Gilchrist, Williams). Turnovers: 14 (Howard 3, Williams 3, Batum 2, Carter-Williams 2, Monk 2, Kidd-Gilchrist, Walker). Steals: 3 (Walker 2, Batum).
Brooklyn | 28 | 25 | 21 | 22 | — | 96 |
Charlotte | 32 | 23 | 25 | 31 | — | 111 |
Att.—14,112 (19,077). T—1:59.
Officials—Ed Malloy, Jacyn Goble, Ron Garretson
This story was originally published February 22, 2018 at 9:19 PM with the headline "Charlotte Hornets reconvene for win over Brooklyn Nets."