The Charlotte Hornets picked up a big win over the top team in the Eastern Conference behind a big game from Kemba Walker.
The Charlotte Hornets got back on track defeating the Orlando Magic 120-113. A game after scoring 93 points against, the Hornets poured in the highest scoring total this season. The win moves Charlotte to .500 with a 3-3 record. Steve Clifford’s side continues to protect their home court as they improve to 3-1 at the Spectrum Center.
Positives
Kemba Walker
The Hornets Captain carried the Hornets to a victory, nearly posting a triple-double with 34 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. Walker scored when the Hornets needed him and, most importantly, in the fourth quarter scoring 11 points. Oh, and Kemba continued to prove why he’s one of the best ball-handlers in the game.
The rest of the starting lineup
Dwight Howard, Jeremy Lamb, Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist made it a total team effort — the four combined for 65 points. It’s hard to choose who had the best game, as Lamb scored 20 points, continuing to score at least 15 points in every game this season.
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Howard recorded another double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Williams had his best game of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. And MKG was back to playing regular minutes, scoring 10 points on perfect 4-4 shooting.
Three-point defense
Part of the reason the Magic are off to a hot start is their three-point shooting. Coming into the game, the Magic led the NBA in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 46% from beyond the arc. Credit great team defense and switching on screens, the Hornets held the Magic to 33% shooting (11-33).
Negatives
Bench scoring
Not much scoring production from the bench against the Magic. In fact, the Hornets struggled as a whole when the second unit was in. Cody Zeller had the most points with six, then Johnny O’Bryant with five points in four minutes.
Dwayne Bacon did impress by grabbing eight boards, but only put in four points. Malik Monk continued to struggle shooting the ball, going 1-8 from the field and 0-3 from three. The Hornets definitely missed Frank Kaminsky scoring off the bench tonight.
Next: How the Hornets will move on without Nic Batum
Charlotte is back on Monday to take on Memphis to start a tough four-game stretch, their first test of games this season. As for this game against Orlando, the Hornets couldn’t have played any better, perhaps the start the Hornets needed.