Charlotte Hornets look flat, get knocked around at home by Brooklyn Nets

It’s one thing to get knocked around on the road against playoff teams. Quite another what the Charlotte Hornets did at home Thursday.

The Brooklyn Nets, a team long out of contention for the playoffs, and just back from the West Coast, pushed around the Hornets at Spectrum Center 125-111. The loss was the Hornets’ fifth in a row, after they had assembled a season-best five-game winning streak. They fell to 28-38.

The Nets improved to 21-45. They got 29 points from Allen Crabbe, and 22 off the bench from Cari LaVert.

Point guard Kemba Walker, coming off a season-low five points Tuesday against the Philadelphia 76ers, finished with 21. Center Dwight Howard added 19 and seven rebounds.

The Hornets complete a three-game home stand Saturday (5 p.m.) against the Phoenix Suns.

Three who mattered

Howard: He got to the foul line plenty Thursday, and just as importantly he made most of those free throws.

Crabbe: Nothing like a household name in the NBA, but this wasn’t the first time he excelled in the extended opportunity the Nets’ rebuilding phase is providing.

LeVert: He had eight assists and made eight of 15 shots.

Observations

▪  Marvin Williams said the migraine attack that kept him out of shootaround Tuesday actually started Sunday in Toronto. He said that early Tuesday morning he woke up feeling like he’d been kicked in the head. This was his first episode with a migraine headache.

▪  Hornets sixth man Jeremy Lamb had a terrific first half, hitting five of his first nine shots to score 10 points in 12 minutes.

▪  Rookie Malik Monk looks more comfortable at the point than he did when coach Steve Clifford tried him there early in the season. He had three assists in the first half, including an over-the-back pass to Cody Zeller for a layup.

▪  The Hornets’ defense was obviously awful Tuesday against the Philadephia 76ers, and that seemed to carry over to the first half Thursday, when the Nets made 25 of 41 shots from the field.

▪  Cody Zeller was called for a flagrant foul for swinging his elbow while setting a pick in the third quarter.

Worth mentioning

▪  The Hornets will do bobbleheads at Saturday’s home game for former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith, in part in praise of the work Smith’s foundation does in regard to domestic-violence issues.

▪  This was the last of an odd five-game Nets road trip that started in Cleveland, wound through the West Coast and ended up in Charlotte. The Barclay Center hosts the ACC tournament this week.

Report card

B OFFENSE: They scored a lot of points, but not in a particularly efficient manner, making just four of 19 3-pointers.

F DEFENSE: The Nets certainly aren’t known for their shooting this season, and the Hornets made them look more than capable in that regard.

C- COACHING: This team is starting to look like it is going through the motions.

This story was originally published March 8, 2018 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Charlotte Hornets look flat, get knocked around at home by Brooklyn Nets."