Refs explain why Montrezl Harrell was ejected, and more takeaways from Hornets’ loss
Buckle up. These next two weeks could be a bit bumpy.
Less than 24 hours after a spirited win that lifted them up to eighth place and put destiny in their own hands, the Charlotte Hornets were back at it again Monday, this time matching up with one of the better teams in the Western Conference. Denver posed a different kind of challenge for the Hornets, relying more on its inside strength to impose its will.
That’s an area of weakness for the Hornets and their inability to contain the Nuggets on the interior paired with a cold-shooting fourth quarter doomed them in a 113-109 loss to at Spectrum Center.
“It’s playoff time, so we’ve just got to get better and learn the little things that we could have did better at the end of the game,” Miles Bridges said. “Like rebounding, not making dumb fouls and taking care of the ball. We didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball. I had five turnovers and that’s unacceptable. So we’ve just got to get better each game. We have a small margin or error, but we’ve got to fix it now.”
Otherwise, the Hornets (39-37) could drop in the standings as quickly as they’ve ascended. They slipped into ninth place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game behind eighth-place Brooklyn and a game ahead of 10th-place Atlanta, with six games remaining.
Here are some of the main takeaways from the Hornets’ defeat.
HARRELL GETS THE HOOK
Montrezl Harrell gave the Hornets a nice boost off the bench, infusing them with nine points and five rebounds in the first half. But his night ended early after a mild altercation with Denver’s Aaron Gordon late in the third quarter.
Following a whistle for a foul call, Harrell stepped slightly over Austin Rivers as he lay in the lane and Gordon apparently didn’t like it, shoving Harrell. The Hornets’ big man wasn’t feeling Gordon putting his hands on him and shoved him back, leading to a confrontation.
After a conference with the two other officials and a video review, lead official Bill Kennedy delivered the news to coach James Borrego and Harrell, ejecting the Hornets’ center and sending him to the locker room. Harrell pulled off his purple arm sleeve and ran into the tunnel obviously frustrated by the decision.
So why did Harrell receive his initial technical?
“Harrell was assessed his first technical foul for stepping over his opponent Rivers in an unsportsmanlike manner,” Kennedy said in a pool report, “resulting in a taunting technical foul.”
And what about the second one?
“Harrell and Gordon were assessed double technical fouls for physically taunting each other,” Kennedy said, “resulting in an ejection of Harrell.”
Harrell’s teammates were puzzled by his removal from the game.
“Man, come on,” LaMelo Ball said. “I don’t even want to get started about the officiating tonight for real. I stay out of that, those convos and just play basketball.”
OUT OF FUEL
It could have been because they were on the second night of a back-to-back and they had sea legs. But on four occasions late in the fourth quarter, the Hornets had an opportunity to knot the game on a 3-pointer and whether it was Terry Rozier or Bridges, it clanked it off the rim each time.
In fact, they struggled behind the arc in general against the Nuggets. They connected on just 13 of 41 attempts from 3-point territory, with Bridges struggling mightily. He went 2 of 10.
“I feel like we had a couple that came up short,” Ball said. “I know I missed my little floater. T-Ro had a good look, missed a corner three. M.B. had a good look at the top. He missed a 3. I feel like we all had good looks. It just wasn’t going tonight.”
Bridges blamed himself for not being more aggressive,
“My threes that I shot, I feel like I could have drove to the basket, got a foul or something,” Bridges said. “But I settled at the wrong time. So it’s just things that we can fix that’s fixable. I trust Terry to hit clutch threes any day of the week. Melo, he does what he does. And me, it’s just learning to keep driving to the basket.”
FEASTING ON SECONDS
Nikola Jokic is a handful inside, and containing him and keeping him off the glass is a difficult proposition. The league’s reigning Most Valuable Player has a way of almost volleying the ball in the air on offensive rebounds attempts, which is an effective method of getting the Nuggets another shot or two at the bucket.
Limiting Denver’s second-chance points was a problem. The Hornets yielded 32 of them and the culprit was their inability to corral the ball off the glass and close out possessions. They surrendered 17 offensive rebounds and that allowed the Nuggets to control the action for the bulk of the second half.
“Finishing how we want to would have definitely been a win,” Ball said. “A big part of that was the rebounds and second-chance points. If we would have covered that up, I feel like we would have been smooth.”
That’s a flaw the Hornets have to correct.
“It will be one box out, one effort play, sometimes it bounces their way,” Borrego said. “Sometimes you do everything right and it just bounces their way. It will be a combination of those three. I don’t have the answers right now, but I do know there were a number where we have to be more physical and just go get them.”
BAGGAGE CLAIM
The Hornets’ have enjoyed their friendly confines over the better part of the last two weeks thanks to their longest homestand of the season. That’s changing, though. They’re about to get reacquainted with their suitcases.
Four of their next five games are on the road, including a three-game trip stretched out over nearly a week. Three of those dates come against teams in the postseason hunt and Philadelphia, Miami and Chicago each are jockeying for seeding.
If the Hornets plan on hosting a home playoff matchup — which they can do provided they finish anywhere other than 10th — they must take care of business on the road and try to improve on their 19-18 mark and earn their first winning season away from Spectrum Center since 2001-02 when they went 23-18.
“We just want to get better each game, control what we can control,” Bridges said. “We want to win games that we’re supposed to win games and be in every game that we play in. It’s going to be a tough road trip, but we’re ready for it and we’re playing our best basketball right now. So I’m not really worried.”
This story was originally published March 28, 2022 at 10:12 PM.
