Charlotte Hornets Get Dominated by the Atlanta Hawks in Season Finale, 103-76

In their season finale, the Charlotte Hornets struggled without Kemba Walker as the young players got plenty of minutes to showcase their talents.

The Charlotte Hornets (36-46) were defeated by the Atlanta Hawks (43-38) in their final game of the regular season. Jeremy Lamb had one of his best scoring games of the season as Briante Weber and Treveon Graham saw extended minutes. Dwight Howard led the home team as the Hawks clinched the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Charlotte was a bit shorthanded without Kemba Walker, Marco Belinelli, Ramon Sessions and Johnny O’Bryant in this one. Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams only played limited minutes as Steve Clifford got the young players on the roster some extra game time. Luckily, no one picked up an injury in the season finale for the Hornets.

Game Story and Turning Point

The Hornets weren’t looking to win this game from the start. They came in with the mentality of this being a developmental game for their young players and if they won, then so be it but they clearly weren’t fielding their best squad. Charlotte did have a two-point lead in the first quarter but other than that, Atlanta held a 20+ point lead for the majority of the game. The Hawks led by as much as 34 points in the fourth quarter. This really wasn’t a close contest from the tip but at least the young players for the Hornets got valuable experience and the coaching staff got a better look at them.

More from Swarm and Sting

• Hornets: Where does Brandon Miller’s ceiling rank among other rookies?
• Charlotte Hornets grade out mostly average in position-by-position ranking
• Hornets News: P.J. Washington makes bold statement on Brandon Miller
• Grade the mock trade: Hornets snag Tyler Herro, flip Gordon Hayward
• Will the Charlotte Hornets be in the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery?

Who Stepped Up

Jeremy Lamb led Charlotte as he finished with a game-high 21 points. He did so on 7-18 shooting from the field and 1-7 from three but he did grab five rebounds. Despite his shooting struggles, he was one of the lone bright spots for the Hornets. Briante Weber, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Treveon Graham each added 10 points in this one.

A number of guys struggled to find their rhythm on offense like Nicolas Batum who went scoreless in 10 minutes. Frank Kaminsky only scored six points on 3-11 shooting while Miles Plumlee didn’t score in 25 minutes going 0-5 from the field.

The Hawks were led by Dwight Howard who pulled down a double-double with 19 points and 12 boards. Ersan Ilyasova and Paul Millsap each chipped in 10 points while Tim Hardaway Jr. had nine on the night. Kind of strange but Atlanta had four players score eight points.

Play of the Game:

Tweet of the Game:

"Quick Stings"

• Charlotte scored a season-low 76 points.
• The Hornets end the year with a record of 14-27 on the road.
• Atlanta shot 51.9% from the field while Charlotte only shot 33%.
• The Hawks scored 50 points in the paint.
• Jeremy Lamb scored 20+ points for the third time this season.

With the loss, the Hornets fall to 3-1 on the season against the Hawks. After going 1-3 against Atlanta last year, Charlotte turned things around this season and actually got the better of their divisional rivals.

Next: Kemba Wants Blake Griffin in Free Agency

With the regular season now over for the Charlotte Hornets, their sights will now be set on the offseason. This will be an important draft and summer for the team as they need to improve in a number of categories. We will have all-around coverage for the entire offseason.