Three things we learned about the Charlotte Hornets in their loss to Cleveland
Suitcases are in constant rotation for the Charlotte Hornets these days.
Throughout the season’s initial two weeks, the Hornets’ schedule was dotted with road games. Home outings were barely sprinkled in, keeping them packing seemingly more often than not. And that isn’t changing this week, not with a five-game trek on tap that features nearly a weeklong stay in California.
“Yeah, the road’s big for us,” coach James Borrego said. “I don’t mind being on the road with this team. This group really bunkers in. They’re together, they’re united. We played well on the road. There’s just sort of a bunker mentality, us against the world. So, I don’t mind that. The most important game though to start that road trip is tonight.
“This starts our road trip tonight and that’s how I’m looking at it. This will kick it off and I expect our guys to come out with great effort, and we’ll hit the road in the next day or two. But it starts here tonight.”
Consider the trip off to a rocky start then. Unable to contain Cleveland’s inside game and doomed by a lethargic start that put them in another huge double-digit deficit, the Hornets lost 113-110 at Spectrum Center on Monday night.
So now it’s off to the west coast for the Hornets (5-3), pondering another frustrating performance.
“We definitely didn’t want to go on this long road trip off an ‘L,’” Miles Bridges said. “But we just have to regroup and get ready for this long trip. Take it one game at a time and try to come back in a positive manner.”
Here are three things we learned from the Hornets’ second loss in their last three games:
NEW HEIGHTS FOR LAMELO BALL
LaMelo Ball’s penchant for drawing early foul trouble, forcing him to take an early seat, was an issue again. Ball collected a pair of fouls with 8:10 still remaining in the first quarter and although Borrego kept him in temporarily, he had to exit.
That’s when the Cavaliers seized control and pulled ahead by 22.
“Just some silly fouls,” Ball said. “Quick ones, though. Got to stop that.”
Ball was much better in the second half and had the hot hand in the third quarter, tossing in 12 points and knocking down 5 of 9 attempts. He posted 30 points before fouling out with 1.2 seconds remaining, marking the first time in his career he’s registered at least 25 points or more in consecutive games.
He’s fouled out twice this season.
“We need him on the floor,” Borrego said. “Obviously, those are some very careless fouls on his part. I’ll have to go back and watch them. We just need him to be more solid at that point.”
TOO CARELESS
It’s an understatement to say the Hornets struggled taking care of the ball against Cleveland. They racked up 17 turnovers and there were occasions when they made it appear as if the ball was bathed in a tub of butter.
In the first half alone, the Hornets turned it over 13 times, leading directly to 22 points for the Cavaliers. There wasn’t just one culprit either. All but one of the starters had at least two turnovers, an indication they were all sleepwalking through the motions.
Cleveland also had 22 fastbreak points, many of which could be attributed to the Hornets’ passing miscues and overall inability to collectively curtail the sloppiness that crept in from the opening tip.
“We’ve been a very good team this season not turning it over,” Borrego said. “It’s been a strength of ours. It’s why we are first or second in offensive rating. Obviously, it didn’t go our way tonight. Just too many careless turnovers. And we knew their length bothered us. They got their hands on a bunch of our possessions there.
“Some of it was careless in transition, throwing careless passes, trying to make home run passes. Some of it was their length.”
NOT SO FREE
Points aren’t exactly scarce for the Hornets given they lead the league in scoring at 118 points per game. But that number could be even better if they got it together in one key area.
Imagine if their free-throw shooting was actually decent. Things would be slightly easier.
They entered the night sitting at No. 23 in the league in free throw percentage, making just 72.2%. That’s too low and has to improve. And quickly.
“We’ve got to get better there,” Borrego said. “We’ve got to get better and we will. We’ve just got to keep working on it and staying confident. That’s the biggest thing, get to the line, keep putting pressure on the defense. Get to the line, first of all. Step up and knock them down. So I’m confident in our group that we can do that.”
At least they sank 11 of 15 attempts against the Cavaliers. Still, even Terry Rozier uncharacteristically clanked a technical free throw.
About their only saving grace was Cleveland misfiring on 12 of its 38 attempts. But the discrepancy in the amount of times the Cavaliers went to the free throw line compared to the Hornets bothered Borrego.
“That’s significant,” Borrego said. “Significant. I don’t know the last time we had a game like that -- 38-15 on free throws. I thought that was a significant piece of this game as well.”
This story was originally published November 1, 2021 at 9:29 PM.
