Sacramento Cruises Following 1st-Half Run, Charlotte Gets Crushed in the Paint and on Glass
Even with injuries stacking up, the Charlotte Hornets have consistently fought and battled in recent weeks, despite the small margin for error. For whatever reason, their intensity and readiness were sorely lacking in Wednesday night’s 123-98 home loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Miles Bridges had a team-high 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting, seven rebounds and a season-high-tying six assists in the loss, marking his fifth straight outing with at least 24 points. Terry Rozier added 22 points, moving him into fourth place on the franchise’s all-time 20-point game leaderboard (158) and two away from tying Glen Rice for third (160), per Basketball Reference.
Things didn’t start off too bad for the hosts, despite the 25-point defeat. Charlotte was ahead by three near the end of the first quarter, before Sacramento came alive with a 22-4 run and an eventual 71-59 halftime lead. The Kings, who drained 11-of-20 first-half 3-point attempts, toned down the scoring a little in the third, but still bumped their cushion to 15 with one frame remaining. An 11-0 stretch to open the fourth would be the cherry on top for Sacramento.
“It takes a good deal of intensity and concentration to play well, no matter how talented you are,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards. “Nobody can play well if you don’t have the right intensity. Tonight, we did not have that. We had a couple guys that did… but for the most part, hopefully this is a lesson learned for our younger guys. They (the Kings) were on a back-to-back, and right from the get-go, they had more energy and juice than we did. The number one reason you win in any team sport is talent, and then the second is readiness.”
This showing was a far cry from the Hornets’ 111-104 win in Sacramento eight days ago, when they were the ones on a back-to-back. Charlotte scrounged up a season-low 28 paint points on 14-of-37 shooting (37.8%) in the rematch and wrangled 17 fewer rebounds (53-36).
“We just came out and weren’t ready as far as energy,” added Brandon Miller, who finished with 15 points and four 3-pointers. “I think we need to have a short-term memory and go into the next game with a different mentality.” Said Bridges, “They were getting whatever they wanted [on offense]. We’ve just got to play better and come out better with our intensity. I feel like our identity changes every game, so we’ve got to just stick to our identity and have that be us.”
The Kings got three 20-point games from Keegan Murray (25), Domantas Sabonis (24), former-Hornet Malik Monk (20) and almost a fourth from De’Aaron Fox (19). Sabonis and fellow center Alex Len both tallied 10 rebounds, as well. Sacramento ended up shooting 51.7% and connected on 13-of-35 from 3-point range (37.1%). This was also the team’s second consecutive win on the second night of a back-to-back after starting the season with an 0-4 record in such situations.
The Hornets will now embark on another three-game road trip starting with the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, Jan. 12 beginning at 8 PM ET. Catch all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.
2024-01-10
Missing Intensity And Readiness Result In Hornets’ 6th Straight Home Loss
Sam Perley, NBA.com/Hornets
Sacramento Cruises Following 1st-Half Run, Charlotte Gets Crushed in the Paint and on Glass
Even with injuries stacking up, the Charlotte Hornets have consistently fought and battled in recent weeks, despite the small margin for error. For whatever reason, their intensity and readiness were sorely lacking in Wednesday night’s 123-98 home loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Miles Bridges had a team-high 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting, seven rebounds and a season-high-tying six assists in the loss, marking his fifth straight outing with at least 24 points. Terry Rozier added 22 points, moving him into fourth place on the franchise’s all-time 20-point game leaderboard (158) and two away from tying Glen Rice for third (160), per Basketball Reference.
Things didn’t start off too bad for the hosts, despite the 25-point defeat. Charlotte was ahead by three near the end of the first quarter, before Sacramento came alive with a 22-4 run and an eventual 71-59 halftime lead. The Kings, who drained 11-of-20 first-half 3-point attempts, toned down the scoring a little in the third, but still bumped their cushion to 15 with one frame remaining. An 11-0 stretch to open the fourth would be the cherry on top for Sacramento.
“It takes a good deal of intensity and concentration to play well, no matter how talented you are,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards. “Nobody can play well if you don’t have the right intensity. Tonight, we did not have that. We had a couple guys that did… but for the most part, hopefully this is a lesson learned for our younger guys. They (the Kings) were on a back-to-back, and right from the get-go, they had more energy and juice than we did. The number one reason you win in any team sport is talent, and then the second is readiness.”
This showing was a far cry from the Hornets’ 111-104 win in Sacramento eight days ago, when they were the ones on a back-to-back. Charlotte scrounged up a season-low 28 paint points on 14-of-37 shooting (37.8%) in the rematch and wrangled 17 fewer rebounds (53-36).
“We just came out and weren’t ready as far as energy,” added Brandon Miller, who finished with 15 points and four 3-pointers. “I think we need to have a short-term memory and go into the next game with a different mentality.” Said Bridges, “They were getting whatever they wanted [on offense]. We’ve just got to play better and come out better with our intensity. I feel like our identity changes every game, so we’ve got to just stick to our identity and have that be us.”
The Kings got three 20-point games from Keegan Murray (25), Domantas Sabonis (24), former-Hornet Malik Monk (20) and almost a fourth from De’Aaron Fox (19). Sabonis and fellow center Alex Len both tallied 10 rebounds, as well. Sacramento ended up shooting 51.7% and connected on 13-of-35 from 3-point range (37.1%). This was also the team’s second consecutive win on the second night of a back-to-back after starting the season with an 0-4 record in such situations.
The Hornets will now embark on another three-game road trip starting with the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, Jan. 12 beginning at 8 PM ET. Catch all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.