Three things we learned about the Charlotte Hornets in their loss at Miami
.JPG "Miami Heat forward P.J. Tucker (17) slaps the ball away from Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges (0) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)")
When the Charlotte Hornets took the court at the outset of their matchup with Miami, they were the NBA’s top scoring unit.
Not many had them accomplishing that feat at the season’s infantile stage. Not even the man guiding them from the end of the bench, witnessing them run it up to the tune of 120 points per game.
“I didn’t expect us to be here in this range right now this early,” coach James Borrego said. “So I didn’t expect that. But I knew we had a chance to be a pretty special offense. I expect that to continue. The versatility, the number of guys that can score and the number of playmakers to me is just a tough combination to guard. We have multiple playmakers with size who can shoot it and score it, that’s a tough cover.”
Filled with length strengthened by Bam Adebayo, the Heat represented a significant barometer for the Hornets. Miami boasted the top statistical defense in the league, stifling teams in suffocating fashion. Pair that with the Hornets’ continuing penchant for slow starts and the combination ultimately doomed them, as they couldn’t put it together in a 114-99 loss to the Heat at FTX Arena on Friday night.
Digging into a cavernous 26-point hole on the road against Miami is not a recipe for success. The slow starts have been a common theme for the Hornets (4-2) and it’s left them searching for answers.
“That’s a good question,” said Gordon Hayward, who led them with 24 points. “That’s a good question that I don’t know. We’ve got to figure that out. It’s not just one person. It’s just about all of us, certainly myself included. I’ve been slow out of the gate in every single game. So, we’ve got to do better. We’ve got to fix that.”
Here are three things we learned in the Hornets’ second loss of the season:
NOT PHYSICAL ENOUGH
During the preseason, one of the things Borrego said he was pleased with was the team’s physicality. Bodies were crashing into each other and guys were getting after it.
That is supposed to be an improvement and an area the team wanted to emphasize. But it wasn’t there against the Heat.
From the jump, Miami roughed the Hornets up, particularly on the glass. In allowing Miami to post a 60-37 rebounding advantage and collect 18 more than them in the first half, the Heat pushed the Hornets around and set quickly the tone. Even after trimming their large double-digit deficit to single digits, they couldn’t keep Adebayo from dominating the rebounding edge. The Heat center pulled in eight rebounds in the fourth quarter alone.
“We’ve talked about it all summer, we’ve talked about it in camp, the preseason,” Borrego said. “And we’ve responded for the most part. Tonight, obviously we didn’t. They were more physical, more aggressive than us. For us to be a good rebounding team it starts with the physicality and I just don’t think we had it tonight. Their pursuit levels, their energy was much higher there.
“We’ve got to have five guys on the board. We are more than capable of doing this. This is not something that we can’t do. We’ve shown that we can rebound with the best teams in this league and we’ve got to respond to that on Sunday.”
A GOOD RETURN FOR PJ
Perhaps it was from watching in street clothes on the bench for their last two games while he was out with right knee soreness. Or it could have been due to the team picking up the fourth-year option on his rookie contract earlier in the day.
Whatever the inspiration, PJ Washington turned in his best overall performance of the season.
Playing with great energy as soon as he was inserted in the first quarter with the Hornets’ starters struggling to slow down the Heat, Washington gave them a solid boost off the bench with a season-high nine points to go with five rebounds.
Washington’s buddy Tyler Hero did get some bragging rights over him when he banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first quarter, putting the Hornets in an 11-point hole they never crawled out of.
“It just felt good to be out on the floor,” Washington said. “My knee was feeling pretty good, so I was just excited for that.”
THE TRICK TO INCORPORATING TERRY
Terry Rozier was downgraded from questionable to out roughly 30 minutes before tipoff, keeping him sidelined for the fourth consecutive game. Rozier’s sprained right ankle has improved slightly over the past week, but apparently not to the point where the medical staff is comfortable he’s completely 100%.
Rozier hates sitting out and it’s undoubtedly eating at him. When he does get back into the lineup, the Hornets are going to have to incorporate him on the fly. It sounds easy enough, but will likely won’t happen with great fluidity immediately.
“Yeah, it’ll be a challenge for us,” Borrego said. “He adds a different strength. Obviously, he is a big-time catch-and-shoot-player, and we play through him a ton, especially in the fourth quarter. I think the biggest thing is for us just to continue to trust each other. I’m not going to stop the game, call a ton for any player on this team. We just trust that every individual that has the ball in his hands makes the right play. If the ball finds Terry’s hands, great. If not we’ll move it and find somebody else. I think that’s the biggest word we use in our program, is trust right now.”
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 10:22 PM.
