Gordon Hayward’s return not enough. Takeaways from the Hornets’ rough loss to 76ers
During a third-quarter skit, Philadelphia 76ers mascot Franklin broke out a few dance moves while the theme music to “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” blared over the Wells Fargo Center sound system.
Franklin, celebrating his birthday, had a few of the other mascots around the league in town with him to mark his special occasion and he was the last one to hit some choreographed steps and show what he can do. Just as Franklin wrapped up his one-man set, he slapped Minnesota’s Crunch the Wolf, an obvious spoof of the well-discussed incident between Philadelphia native Will Smith and comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars.
That got a rise out of the sellout crowd almost as much as the show the 76ers put on the floor in the second half against the Charlotte Hornets. Philadelphia took them apart, using a high-octane offensive effort to knock off the Hornets 144-114 on Saturday afternoon.
Considering what’s at stake, the Hornets (40-38) can’t afford any more slipups if they want to host a play-in tournament game. The defeat dropped them into 10th place in the Eastern Conference, pending the result of Saturday night’s game between Brooklyn and Atlanta, with four games remaining. The three teams entered the day tied for eighth place, and the Hornets’ next outing is against Southeast Division-leading Miami on Tuesday.
“We’ve just got to take every game and approach every game like a playoff game,” Miles Bridges said. “Today we didn’t do that and everybody really is in playoff mode. So any time we play against somebody we’re going to get their best. So we’ve got to give our best. So we’ve just got to come in next game against the Heat with a different mindset, a defensive mindset.”
He’ll get no argument from Terry Rozier.
“That’s what it’s got to be,” Rozier said. “That’s what it’s got to be. Individually, as a team everybody has got to give their best, I think we will do that. I think we will pay attention to details more and we’ve got to be more locked in.”
Here are some of the main takeaways from their defeat:
RESERVE ROLE FOR HAYWARD
An hour remained on the clock ticking down the seconds until tipoff and Gordon Hayward was already along the baseline, anxiously awaiting the opportunity to begin his methodical routine.
He limbered up by stretching his legs first, then loosened his arms using two huge rubberband-like straps attached to the basket. Hayward was preparing himself and getting his body ready to be back on the floor for the first time in nearly two months.
Figuring it would be best to gauge where he’s at while also not interrupting team chemistry, coach James Borrego brought Hayward off the bench. Serving in that reserve role, Hayward posted a modest five points, four assists and three rebounds in 17 minutes.
“Yeah it felt good,” Hayward said. “It’s been almost two months here I guess and because I had COVID and a little bit of an injury before I guess it’s maybe been a little bit more than two months. So, it was good to be out on the court. Obviously, I wish we could’ve ended a little differently, but Philadelphia is a really good team.
“So it’s a tough one, but it’s good to be back on the court.”
With Hayward in the fold again it meant someone who’s been a part of the 10-man rotation would lose playing time. Jalen McDaniels was the odd man out and didn’t get into the action until things were decided in the fourth quarter.
That’s part of the deal now with Hayward’s return.
“I’ve got to figure out how to use him, where to use him and kind of blend him back in right now,” Borrego said. “But we’ll figure it out.”
THIRD QUARTER OF DEATH
Things unraveled horribly for the Hornets right after halftime, leading to Philadelphia seizing control and never relinquishing it. They yielded 45 points to the 76ers in the third quarter, getting thoroughly outplayed, and watched Joel Embiid nail 5 of 6 shots and pound them for 10 points.
Ball movement, which has been a key component of them winning 10 of 14 games entering their matchup with Philadelphia, wasn’t as prevalent and they didn’t take good care of the ball. The Hornets turned it over eight times in the third and the 76ers cashed in on the flurry of wide-open attempts they got as a result from 3-point range, draining all but three of their 10 attempts beyond the arc. Even James Harden, who wasn’t overly assertive up to that point, found some rhythm with seven points in the quarter.
“They hit too many threes,” Bridges said. “James did a great job of getting them going on offense, finding everybody. He wasn’t really aggressive today. He was finding Tobias [Harris], [Tyrese] Maxey, all those guys and, like I said, they were hitting shots. So, it was tough for us because they got Joel in the paint. That’s why Philly is so tough to play against. You know they got a mixture of guys that could go inside, go outside. So they are going to be very dangerous in the playoffs.”
NO STOPPING EMBIID
Embiid is among the top candidates for the league’s Most Valuable Player award, and the Hornets sure had their issues keeping the big man out of the lane. Or anywhere for that matter.
Embiid, who registered a double-double in the first half alone, was a force with 29 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. He set the tone for Philadelphia early and the Hornets never put the defensive clamps on him. His control allowed the 76ers to get plenty of looks on the perimeter and sink a season-best 21 shots from 3-point range.
“I feel like we’ve done really good on our weak-side rotation recently,” Borrego said. “For some reason tonight, we did not have enough presence on that weak side and we could’ve done a better job on the pick-and-roll and obviously.
“You’ve got to figure out if you’re going to be up in the pick-and-roll or back, and we tried to do a little bit of both. But no matter what, our weak sides have got to be pulling and we have to trust that.”
They didn’t do that against the 76ers.
“These last 10 games, 15 games we’ve been definitely defensive-minded,” Bridges said. “Today we didn’t come with that mindset. Joel took advantage of it. Everybody really took advantage of it. Guys were hitting shots.
“It wasn’t really nothing we could do once they got their offense going, but we’ve got to fix that for the next game.”
This story was originally published April 2, 2022 at 3:50 PM.
