The Charlotte Hornets dropped back under .500 as they dropped their first home game of the season to James Harden and the Houston Rockets.
The Charlotte Hornets (2-3) were defeated by the Houston Rockets (5-1) as they lost at home for the first time this season after winning their first two. The dynamic duo of James Harden and Eric Gordon combined for 53 points and led the visitors to victory. Not only did the Hornets’ bench struggle to score but the entire team couldn’t find their rhythm from the field.
Charlotte continues to be shorthanded as they were without Michael Carter-Williams (knee soreness), Cody Zeller (right knee bone bruise), Nicolas Batum (left elbow) and Julyan Stone (strained hamstring). MKG, who is still on a minutes restriction, was limited to only 13 minutes. Treveon Graham was active but was only an emergency option for the Hornets as he is recovering from a thigh injury he suffered last time out.
Game Story
The Hornets started strong and led by three points at the end of the first quarter. Houston grabbed the lead at the 8:33 mark of the second period and never looked back. Although Charlotte kept battling back and got the deficit to single-digits a few times, the Rockets were never really in any trouble as they kept knocking down big shots to slow the home team’s momentum. The Hornets’ second unit only mustered up 21 points while MKG and Marvin Williams only combined for seven. Charlotte needs more production outside of Kemba and Dwight.
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Player of the Game
Kemba Walker was the Hornets best player as he scored a team-high 26 points but he needed 22 shots to do so. He added five assists but was a -6 in +/- for the game. At times, the point guard seemed frustrated because of the lack of foul calls going his way. Still, he led the team late and kept the game close.
Jeremy Lamb was Charlotte’s second-leading scorer with 20 points. Dwight Howard pulled down another huge double-double with 19 points and 15 rebounds against his former team. Although D12 played well, he only shot 5-15 from the free throw line and Houston enacted the Hack-a-Howard strategy near the end of the game.
The Rockets were led by James Harden who managed to record a triple-double with a game-high 27 points to go along with 11 assists and 10 boards. Eric Gordon managed to score 26 points while Ryan Anderson put up 21. Luc Mbah A Moute rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points for the game.
Highlight of the Night:
Tweet of the Night:
"Quick Stings"
- Lamb has now scored 15+ points in every game so far this season.
- Howard became the first player since Charles Barkley to grab at least 15 rebounds in the first games of the year.
- Dwight also became the first Hornets’ player since Emeka Okafor to grab 4+ offensive rebounds in four straight games.
- Charlotte only shot 37.5% (33-88) from the field.
- The Rockets managed to attempt a staggering 57 three-point shots.
With the loss, Charlotte falls to 0-1 against Houston this season. They will face off once more this season with that meeting coming on December 13th in a game that will be nationally televised on ESPN. After going 0-2 against the Rockets last year, it would be a huge step forward to get at least one win over a top Western Conference team.
Next: Hornets' keys to 45 wins
In their next outing, the Charlotte Hornets will host the Orlando Magic on Sunday, October 29th at 6:00 p.m. EST. This will be the first meeting between the two divisional rivals so far this season. Steve Clifford’s side will be looking to close out their three-game homestand with a victory and bounce back from this loss.