What the Charlotte Hornets said after getting burned late by Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat
It’s not like a refresher was necessary given their lengthy history.
But when the banged up Charlotte Hornets took a peek at the opposing bench or affixed their vision on the Spectrum Center court Monday night, they observed a model franchise they’d be wise to imitate as much as possible.
“To me the most simplistic way would be (their) toughness and intelligence,” Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said. “It’s what wins in our league. It’s hard to win if you are not smart in the playoffs and it’s hard to win if you don’t have toughness. I think those are qualities that they look for. Obviously, if you look at their roster. They have obviously established a way to play and … don’t give possessions away.
“That’s a big deal in this league. There, it’s a big deal. They don’t say that’s OK. They get the right kind of guys. One of the reasons why all those guys get better is how they coach them. The bigger reason is who they are.”
And once again, Miami showed the Hornets how to get it done in the clutch. Not even Terry Rozier’s late-game heroics could rescue Charlotte in a 116-114 loss, dropping to 48-79 all-time against their Southeast Division foes.
“I think we did all the right things,” Rozier said. “Obviously, we just fell short to a very disciplined team. A team like this, they don’t really give too many possessions away, so if you are turning the ball over and you’re not getting the best looks for your team, you put yourself in a tough position because these guys are very disciplined — offensively and defensively.”
Here’s what else the Hornets (7-14) had to say about their loss to Miami:
On fouling too much
“It’s hard,” forward Miles Bridges said. “It’s hard, especially when you’re guarding Duncan Robinson, Jimmy Butler, those guys. Jimmy and Kyle (Lowry), they be hunting for fouls. So, you’ve just got to be disciplined, show your hands. Because they’re going to attack you every play and try to get you in foul trouble, so you’ve just got to disciplined.”
Robinson finished with 24 points and Butler 23.
“It’s just defend with discipline,” Clifford said. “It’s a huge part of playing defense. It’s not a selective thing. I mean it’s a habit. You are either disciplined about it or you are not.”
On defensive issues guarding Miami’s 3-pointers
“Tonight the other thing we did, which we normally don’t do, is we were flying by shooters, which led to a bunch of (open shots),” Clifford said. “Now, the way the league is now, for both teams, you end up in cover a lot, where somebody is going to get beat because there’s so much space out there. Particularly when they had (Kevin) Love on the floor. They are five-out, so there’s going to be possessions where it’s like scramble, right?
“And we are actually good at it, or pretty good at it. But when you do it, you can’t fly by your guy. Some teams do it. Again, it crushes you, and we’ve been good at that all year. That’s one of the things where we are like top two or three in the league and we don’t do it. Tonight we did and they killed us. I bet there were four, five wide-open 3s just because one guy, instead of having the discipline to close to the chest, make him dribble the ball, (they) fly by.
“It’s more just a read. Gone are the days where you can say, ‘You’re here, you’re helping here.’ It doesn’t work that way anymore. It’s more instincts, intelligence, decision-making.”
Rozier said: “Closeouts are something we’ve got to do a better job of. We’ve been preaching it all year. We’ve done a lot of closeout drills since training camp and Coach always mentions that closing out is probably the thing done most in a game, over and over. So, we’ve just got to be better than that, knowing they have great shooters out there but still you want to do enough to run them off the line and not let them fly by or get a side-step shot.”
On why the Hornets fell into a hole early
“Turnovers,” Bridges said. “It started off with me — I got those two early turnovers in the first quarter and it was like a domino effect. So if we take care of the ball and we don’t foul, then we win this game. So, we’ve got to go into the next game thinking that.”
“Tonight it was the turnovers.,” Clifford said. “We had good energy right from the start. We did a good job, but I think we had four turnovers in the first three and a half, four minutes of the game, which hurt our offense a lot. As the game went on, we were better and better. “
On Terry Rozier’s performance
“It’s every night,” Clifford said. “ Listen, he wants to win. Again tonight, 39 minutes, 13 assists, 34 points, big shot after big shot. It’s the number one thing you want as a coach. He’s a dependable, reliable competitor. There’s nothing you can do to coach that. If you want a hard playing team, you’ve got to have guys like him. That’s it. That’s the way it works. He kept us in the game. He made a couple, in the fourth, tough, tough shots. He’s been doing that all year. He’s been doing that his whole career.”
Rozier said: “Just taking the shots that were there, not rushing at all. I was trying to get my teammates going early in the game, making sure everybody feels good. Like I said, my coaches and my teammates do a great job of letting me be me and going out there and being aggressive in the second half.”
On Brandon Miller’s performance
“He played well down the stretch, too,” Clifford said. “He made big shots, his defense was good. He’s made a bunch of big shots for us already.”
“Brandon, to me, is a throwback type player. ... He can shoot and create shots, but he knows the game. You watch him play, his decision making at both ends is very good. Watching him, the other thing he has the ability to do, which is impressive for a young player, he plays going forward. He’s had a couple games where he’ll be 1-for-6, 1-for-7, 9. It doesn’t change anything about his demeanor or the way he competes or the way he plays. He really has a chance to be a terrific player. You can see as he gets older he’s going to bring a ton of intangibles.”
On what Miles Bridges brings to the team
“I think he actually helps us going forward in every area,” Clifford said, “but I think it’s physicality, intensity, the ability to get the ball to the rim. Two years ago, he was 69% at the rim. We haven’t finished well at the rim in this year-plus I’ve been here and he’s just getting his rhythm. But he’s at the basket. He both scores at the rim, he kicks the ball out. He’s shot the ball well from 3 so far.
“Our 3-point shooting numbers have gone way up since we got him. He does put a lot of pressure on the rim, but like I said, he does kick the ball out. I think he’s going to help our defense a lot, too, as he gets going. He’s played, to me, far better than I expected him to right away. For a guy who hadn’t played in a long, long time, that’s not easy. He’s really played well.”
On Mark Williams’ back injury
“I think he feels better,” Clifford said. “He wasn’t able to do anything today — he had treatment and stuff like that. It shouldn’t be a long-term thing. It’s more of comfort level. He just doesn’t feel good right now.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2023 at 11:05 PM.
