Turnovers take down Charlotte Hornets in Washington

It’s not as if the Charlotte Hornets hadn’t been warned about the Washington Wizards’ knack for steals

The last time these two teams met the Hornets committed 19 turnovers, one short of their high for the season. Saturday the Hornets committed 18 turnovers, resulting in 30 Washington points, in a 109-101 loss at the Verizon Center.

The Hornets fell to 15-11 overall and 4-7 on the road. Kemba Walker scored 18 points, although he shot just 6-of-18 from the field.

Wizards point guard John Wall, who grew up in Raleigh, finished with 27 points and 12 assists.

The Wizards improved to 11-14.

Three who mattered

Wall: His first-half points (20) and assists (six) gave the Wizards a six-point halftime lead.

Garrett Temple: The former Charlotte Bobcat is filling in well for the injured Bradley Beal.

Jeremy Lin: It wasn’t 35 points, like his last game, but he was aggressive offensively.

Observations

▪  The Hornets got back Nic Batum, who missed Thursday’s home game against the Toronto Raptors with an illness. Batum started, but coach Steve Clifford wasn’t sure he could play his normal minutes.

▪  Clifford said pre-game the one thing that has held the Hornets back so far is a 4-6 record on the road. The Hornets play at the Houston Rockets on Monday before four consecutive home games to finish 2015.

▪  January will be extremely road-heavy for the Hornets; 11 of 16 games that month are away from Time Warner Cable Arena.

▪  While on suspension, center Al Jefferson must count as one of the Hornets’ active roster spots. That meant rookie Aaron Harrison was inactive versus the Wizards.

▪  P.J. Hairston had to sit out part of the second half due to leg cramps.

Worth mentioning

▪  The Hornets committed 12 first-half turnovers, resulting in 17 Wizards points.

▪  Wall was called for a technical foul in the first half.

▪  It was Asian Heritage Night Saturday at Verizon Center, which is situated next to Washington’s Chinatown neighborhood.

Report card

C- OFFENSE: The Hornets were sloppy with their ball-security and the Wizards know how to convert turnovers.

D DEFENSE: The Wizards shot above 50 percent from the field for much of this game.

C COACHING: Clifford identified turnovers as the key element in matchup, but the probelm still persisted from the last Hornets-Wizards game.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 9:44 PM with the headline "Turnovers take down Charlotte Hornets in Washington."