Center Cody Zeller injures hip as Charlotte Hornets lose big at Miami Heat
The bad news out of the Charlotte Hornets’ trip to Miami wasn’t a 117-100 loss.
It was a left hip contusion that knocked center Cody Zeller out of the game in the second half.
No sense whether Zeller’s injury will linger, but any ailment is cause for concern after Zeller missed half of the prior two seasons’ games. Most of that has been knee soreness, but he also suffered a broken hand last season.
The Hornets have closely monitored Zeller this season, limiting his participation in off-day practices. Zeller typically spends about 90 minutes during off days in the training room for preventive medicine.
Ten observations on the loss to the Heat:
▪ A solid game for Terry Rozier, who finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
▪ This was just the second game this season when Devonte Graham failed to make a 3-pointer (0-of-4). Previously, he missed his three attempts from the arc Nov. 2 against the Golden State Warriors.
▪ Hornets rookie P.J. Washington was spectacular in his first couple of NBA games, but has tailed off late, totaling 20 points in the four games prior to Monday. He finished with eight against the Heat.
▪ Monday was just the fifth appearance this season for center Willy Hernangomez, who was beaten out for backup minutes behind Zeller by veteran Bismack Biyombo.
▪ Malik Monk got to the foul line three times in his first seven minutes Monday. Free-throw attempts are important to any player’s offensive efficiency, but that much more so with Monk as far as his resolve to attack defenders off the dribble.
▪ The Hornets are bad defensively this season, but when an opponent makes 11 of its first 20 attempts from 3, as Miami did, it’s about more than who is guarding.
▪ Hornets second-round rookie Cody Martin played for the first time in three games when coach James Borrego inserted him for the last two minutes of the first half to guard Miami star Jimmy Butler. Martin’s minutes diminished when Nic Batum came back from injury, and he might join his brother, Caleb, for a Greensboro Swarm assignment.
▪ Batum was charged with a flagrant foul in the second quarter, the first for a Hornet this season.
▪ Heat center Bam Adebayo, a former North Carolina Mr. Basketball in high school, finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. He has become a top NBA big man.
▪ The Hornets’ obligatory double-digit deficit first came in the second quarter. The one game this season when they avoided that big of a deficit in a game? At Washington last week.
This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 10:08 PM.
