Miller, Richards, Bridges All Score 20+ PTS, Charlotte Has Late Defensive Breakdowns
It’s apparently going to take a little longer than one game for the Charlotte Hornets to reconfigure themselves following the recent trade of Terry Rozier, as evidenced by Wednesday night’s 113-106 road loss in Detroit.
Brandon Miller led the visitors with a team-high 23 points – 12 in the third quarter – five 3-pointers, seven rebounds and four assists, becoming the second rookie in franchise history to score at least 23 points in four straight games (Alonzo Mourning), per Basketball Reference. Nick Richards returned to finish with a career-high 21 points, while Miles Bridges added another 20.
Emotions (and newer on-court roles) were no doubt a little all over the place for the Hornets in this one, following Rozier’s somewhat sudden departure to Miami on Tuesday afternoon. Coming off a 52-52 halftime tie, Charlotte took the third quarter, 40-37, after shooting 63.6% with 10 assists in the frame. But for whatever reason, the ball started to stick a whole lot more for the Hornets in the fourth. Their first basket didn’t come until the 7:51 mark and despite leading 102-100 with two minutes left, Charlotte conceded a game-ending 10-0 run to Detroit.
Over the final 12 minutes, the Hornets scrounged up a meager 14 points on 4-of-17 shooting (23.5%) and canned only 1-of-9 attempts from 3-point range. They tallied two assists and committed seven turnovers, almost double their total for the game up to that point (four).
“The big thing we have to do is tonight in the fourth quarter, we stopped moving the ball,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford following the loss. “For three quarters, our ball movement was good. We do not have an iso-team. We are a pick-and-roll, ball-movement team. When that’s happening, we’re good. If we want to stand out there and pound the ball, it’s going to be hard against anybody.”
Bridges and Richards both snagged a game-high 10 rebounds, as well, good for their seventh and eighth double-doubles of the season, respectively. With Richards back from his three-game absence, Charlotte won the glass, 48-44, which included a 9-5 edge in offensive boards. Both sides also coincidental shot exactly 15-of-38 from 3-point range (39.5%)
Bojan Bogdanović paved the way for Detroit with a game-high 34 points – his second-highest total this season – on 12-of-23 shooting and five 3-pointers, the last one tying the game at 106-106. Alec Burks (15), Jalen Duren (14) and Isaiah Stewart (11) also scored double digits points in the Pistons’ fifth win of the year, two of which now coming against the Hornets. This victory was also just the second for Detroit in its past 10 head-to-head home meetings with Charlotte.
The Hornets will next take on the Houston Rockets to begin a four-game homestand starting on Friday, Jan. 26 at 7 PM ET. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.
2024-01-24
Offense Disappears In 4th Quarter, Hornets Get Dropped By Detroit
Sam Perley, NBA.com/Hornets
Miller, Richards, Bridges All Score 20+ PTS, Charlotte Has Late Defensive Breakdowns
It’s apparently going to take a little longer than one game for the Charlotte Hornets to reconfigure themselves following the recent trade of Terry Rozier, as evidenced by Wednesday night’s 113-106 road loss in Detroit.
Brandon Miller led the visitors with a team-high 23 points – 12 in the third quarter – five 3-pointers, seven rebounds and four assists, becoming the second rookie in franchise history to score at least 23 points in four straight games (Alonzo Mourning), per Basketball Reference. Nick Richards returned to finish with a career-high 21 points, while Miles Bridges added another 20.
Emotions (and newer on-court roles) were no doubt a little all over the place for the Hornets in this one, following Rozier’s somewhat sudden departure to Miami on Tuesday afternoon. Coming off a 52-52 halftime tie, Charlotte took the third quarter, 40-37, after shooting 63.6% with 10 assists in the frame. But for whatever reason, the ball started to stick a whole lot more for the Hornets in the fourth. Their first basket didn’t come until the 7:51 mark and despite leading 102-100 with two minutes left, Charlotte conceded a game-ending 10-0 run to Detroit.
Over the final 12 minutes, the Hornets scrounged up a meager 14 points on 4-of-17 shooting (23.5%) and canned only 1-of-9 attempts from 3-point range. They tallied two assists and committed seven turnovers, almost double their total for the game up to that point (four).
“The big thing we have to do is tonight in the fourth quarter, we stopped moving the ball,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford following the loss. “For three quarters, our ball movement was good. We do not have an iso-team. We are a pick-and-roll, ball-movement team. When that’s happening, we’re good. If we want to stand out there and pound the ball, it’s going to be hard against anybody.”
Bridges and Richards both snagged a game-high 10 rebounds, as well, good for their seventh and eighth double-doubles of the season, respectively. With Richards back from his three-game absence, Charlotte won the glass, 48-44, which included a 9-5 edge in offensive boards. Both sides also coincidental shot exactly 15-of-38 from 3-point range (39.5%)
Bojan Bogdanović paved the way for Detroit with a game-high 34 points – his second-highest total this season – on 12-of-23 shooting and five 3-pointers, the last one tying the game at 106-106. Alec Burks (15), Jalen Duren (14) and Isaiah Stewart (11) also scored double digits points in the Pistons’ fifth win of the year, two of which now coming against the Hornets. This victory was also just the second for Detroit in its past 10 head-to-head home meetings with Charlotte.
The Hornets will next take on the Houston Rockets to begin a four-game homestand starting on Friday, Jan. 26 at 7 PM ET. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.