Charlotte Hornets overcome tepid second half, hold off Philadelphia 76ers

It wasn’t particularly artistic, but it did get the Charlotte Hornets to a winning record.

The Hornets jumped out to a double-digit lead almost immediately on the Philadelphia 76ers to prevail 113-88 Friday night at Time Warner Cable Arena.

This looked like a blowout when the Hornets spread that lead to 26 points, but the Sixers chipped away at the deficit through much of the third quarter.

The Hornets improved to 7-6 overall and 5-1 at home. The Sixers are now 0-13 for the season.

Three who mattered

Al Jefferson: During an 11-0 Hornets run, he scored nine of the points and assisted on the other basket.

Kemba Walker: He made seven of his first 11 shots to get the Hornets out to a 26-point lead.

Nerlens Noel: Sixers coach Brett Brown is still working out how best to use big men Noel and Jahlil Okafor.

Observations

▪  An eye-popping statistic: Entering Friday’s game the Hornets led the Eastern Conference in home scoring, averaging 107.8 points at Time Warner Cable Arena. They also average 11.2 3s made on 40 percent shooting at home.

▪  The 76ers entered this game averaging most turnovers in the NBA at 19.1 per game. The Hornets commit the fewest turnovers at 11.7 per game.

▪  The Hornets played Friday without Cody Zeller (ankle strain) and P.J. Hairston (quadriceps contusion). Coach Steve Clifford chose to start Jeremy Lin at shooting guard, Lin’s first start as a Hornet.

▪  The Hornets made 10 or more 3s in five of their first 12 games. Last season the Hornets totaled nine games of 10 or more 3s.

▪  The 76ers commit the most turnovers in the NBA this season at over 19 per game. As coach Brett Brown said pregame, “We’re a C-minus to D-plus executing team in the half-court.”

Worth mentioning

▪  Zeller will serve as the honorary pace car driver Saturday at 7:30 p.m. when Charlotte Motor Speedway kicks off its annual Christmas-related activities. The speedway has set up a 3.5-mile drive-through light show for the holidays.

▪  Rookie Jahlil Okafor is so skilled. He split a double-team in the lane for a layup in the first half.

▪  The Hornets will be off Saturday, then practice Sunday in preparation for Monday’s home game against the Sacramento Kings.

Report card

B- OFFENSE: The 62-point explosion in the first half was followed by a pretty tepid third quarter.

B DEFENSE: With the exception of rookie Okafor, the 76ers aren’t particularly hard to guard.

B COACHING: The Hornets start out this seven-game homestand 2-0.

 

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Charlotte Hornets overcome tepid second half, hold off Philadelphia 76ers."