Hornets anything but clutch in Friday’s 4th quarter vs. LeBron James, Cavs

Beating LeBron James – anywhere, any time – is just about the toughest thing on the Charlotte Hornets’ agenda.

Regardless of whether he was with the Miami Heat or Cleveland Cavaliers, James has owned this matchup. He has lost just one game against the Hornets since joining the Heat in 2010.

Changing that requires doing the hard things, and the Hornets complied Friday at Quicken Loans Arena, outrebounding the Cavs 55-45 and limiting them to 15 free-throw attempts.

When you hold the Cavaliers to 100 points, you give yourself a chance; a fine chance, in fact. But the Hornets squandered that chance by blowing the so-called “easy” thing – free throws – in the fourth quarter.

The Hornets missed seven of 14 free throws over the last 12 minutes of this one. They finished the fourth quarter with 17 points, allowing the Cavs and James to walk away with a 100-99 victory.

When the Hornets are deficient at foul-shooting, you assume the culprit is center Dwight Howard, averaging 44 percent from the line this season. However, Howard made 5-of-6 in the fourth quarter. Rather, it was guards Kemba Walker (0-of-2), Jeremy Lamb (0-of-1) and Michael Carter-Williams (1-of-3) who didn’t perform in the clutch.

One of coach Steve Clifford’s most-repeated sayings is that basketball is a “make-or-miss” proposition. Friday, that burned this team royally: For the fourth quarter, the Hornets were 5-of-23 from the field and 0-of-8 from 3-point range.

Walker is typically as clutch as any Hornet. For much of the 2015-16 season, he led the NBA in “late-and-close” points: Late fourth-quarter situations as pressure-filled as any. But Walker missed all four of his 3-pointers in the final period (the last one a desperation heave at the buzzer).

I’m not singling out Walker for blame, but this was such an opportunity wasted. The Hornets led by as much as eight (not that that’s a big margin in the NBA), and the Cavs (12-7) looked beatable.

James was typically magnificent, with a triple-double of 27 points, 16 rebounds and 13 assists. No one else on Cleveland’s roster was all that imposing.

The Hornets had given up 115 points in their previous loss to Cleveland this season, as the Cavs grabbed 16 offensive rebounds resulting in 22 second-chance points.

That margin reversed Friday, with the Hornets grabbing 15 offensive boards to the Cavs’ three. Power forward Marvin Williams made 5-of-7 from 3-point range and Howard continued his big week with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Those are the things a team must do if they expect to beat James, particularly in Cleveland.

There are similarly things a team must not do: It must not go 7-of-14 on free throws in the fourth.

This story was originally published November 25, 2017 at 12:21 AM with the headline "Hornets anything but clutch in Friday’s 4th quarter vs. LeBron James, Cavs."