Second-half surge lifts Charlotte Hornets over Wizards. What we learned about the win
Mason Plumlee was exiting the interview room, walking past an arriving Miles Bridges when the Charlotte Hornets forward offered up his unsolicited fashion critique of Plumlee’s spiky green sweater.
“You look like Black Panther,” Bridges said.
The jokes can keep flying at this rate. That’s how it goes after earning successive victories against two of the hottest teams in the NBA.
Three days removed from knocking off one of the league’s top teams record-wise in Golden State, it was back to business for the Hornets against another one of the league’s upper echelon. Matching up with Washington -- the team that sat atop the Eastern Conference standings and the very one the Hornets are chasing in the Southeast Division -- took some patience and a little perseverance.
A second-half surge, some brilliant offensive execution and a few defensive adjustments was the Hornets’ recipe for success to take down the Wizards 97-87 at Spectrum Center on Wednesday night.
“I mean, it’s a lot,” Miles Bridges said. “The Warriors, they’re the hottest team coming in. The Wizards were the hottest team in the East. So, for us to get wins that just shows what we’re capable of when everybody’s focused. As long as we stay focused, we’ll be a tough team to beat.”
Earning their fourth straight victory on the heels of a five-game losing skid, the streaky Hornets (9-7) clamped down defensively and limited the Wizards (10-4) to 36.7% shooting. In two of their wins during this stretch, they’ve held the opposition below 40%.
“We are growing and getting better,” coach James Borrego said. “We are developing an identity and we are learning what it takes to win in this league. Our group has taken ownership of that and I am really proud of these last two wins. But I am even more proud of the growth and the movement and momentum we have right now with what we are trying to build here.
“So, the goal here is not to be complacent. The goal is to build off of these wins and get better. If we are complacent with these last couple of wins then next week could look a lot different for us.”
Here are three things we learned in the Hornets’ win:
OFF LAMELO STILL EFFECTIVE
When his shot isn’t there, LaMelo Ball is getting pretty good at ensuring he leaves an impression on the game in other ways.
Similar to how things went down against New York to begin this four-game homestand, the night he snatched a career-best 17 rebounds, Ball had his fingerprints on the outcome despite an off night offensively. He dished a career-high tying 14 assists to go with six rebounds and played under control, efficiently running the show.
“He impacts the game in so many ways,” Borrego said. “He can score, had a career-high in assists. The other night 17 rebounds. The kid finds ways to impact winning. And even when his shot’s not falling he stuck with it. He was defending on the other end, he was digging out some rebounds, then obviously moving the ball.
“So I think these are two examples of his impacts on winning. It’s the board some nights, sometimes it’s moving and sharing the ball, sometimes it’s scoring. It’s whatever it takes and that’s why he’s such a special player.”
KELLY OUBRE COMES THROUGH
Maybe Kelly Oubre was inspired by Sunday’s baffling second-half ejection. Or it could have been because he was facing his old team, even doing a few secret handshakes with some of the staff on the court prior to the start of the second half.
Whatever it was, the Hornets will take it.
A huge catalyst in the third quarter when they went on that game-changing run, Oubre scored nine of his 14 points and energized the crowd with his 3-pointers, blowing kisses to them with every make. The Hornets were lethargic, didn’t have any kind of rhythm and appeared out of sorts a bit until Oubre helped steady things and reverse their offensive struggles.
“He just brings a lot of intensity and he hits shots when we need them,” Bridges said. “He’s a great teammate, so it was just good to have him back on the floor.”
INSIDE ADJUSTMENTS AFTER EARLY WOES
Was that Daniel Gafford or Wes Unseld?
Hyperbole aside, the Hornets’ problems controlling things on the interior was a problem yet again. This time it was Gafford feasting on the Hornets’ big men, and he had already posted a season-high 17 points through two quarters, making all eight attempts from the paint to go with seven rebounds.
Gafford’s dominance and an inability to keep Tarboro, N.C., native Montrezl Harrell, who had nine points and four rebounds by halftime, essentially propelled Washington to an overall 36-26 edge in points in the paint in the first half.
The Hornets’ inside issues were greatly tightened up in the second half once they switched their coverages and threw different looks at the Wizards. Washington had just 10 points in the paint after halftime.
“In the first half, we were up in the pick-and-rolls,” said Mason Plumlee, who had 13 second-half rebounds after finishing the first half with zero. “So on the rolls, they had a small on them and they got some buckets straight up. But I just think the zone and mixing up our defensive coverages helped us, but the reality was we had our guards tagging down low and it’s just a mismatch. I thought we did a great job in the second half and we cleaned up the backboard, too. So that helped us.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 9:42 PM.
