Four takeaways from the Charlotte Hornets’ blowout loss at Minnesota
The Charlotte Hornets lost back to back games for the first time this year against the Minnesota Timberwolves, dropping to 5-5 on the season.
The Charlotte Hornets and the Minnesota Timberwolves were neck and neck during three of the four quarters as they tied them twice and were outscored by just one point in the other. During the second quarter, the Timberwolves grasped control of the game and never let go. They scored 40 points in the second as they caught fire halfway through the quarter ending the quarter on a 26-10 run.
Here are a few takeaways from the 18 point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Walker vs Teague
Kemba Walker and Jeff Teague both played in the southeast division for the majority of their careers which lead to a lot of head to head matchups. Those head to head matchups are surprisingly one-sided. In a total of 24 matchups, Jeff Teague is 19-5 against Kemba averaging 12ppg 8apg and shooting 50% from beyond the arc. While Walker has averaged 14ppg 6apg on 36% from both the field and from three.
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3-Point Defense
When you allow a starting unit to shoot 50% from deep its very tough to win basketball games. Charlotte has now allowed that to happen in two of the last three games. First, it was against the Milwaukee Bucks (12 of 24) and then again against the Minnesota Timberwolves (7 of 13). They managed to beat the Bucks but that was because the Hornets starters also shot above 50% from deep (8 of 13).
Charlotte is now 24th in the league in opponent three-pointers made with 11.2 per game and are 26th in attempts allowed at 32.5. Charlotte has now allowed opponents to score double-digit three’s in four of the last six games and over 19 in two of those four games. The Hornets have to start running guys off the three-point line if they wanna win games.
Un-Hornets-Like
Prior to the game, Charlotte was first in defensive rebounding (40.2) and third in opponent free-throw attempts (18.9).
The Timberwolves managed to outrebound the Hornets by 16. They grabbed 12 offensive, Gorgui Dieng and Taj Gibson had seven just between the two of them.
Charlotte committed 24 personal fouls resulting in 30 free-throw attempts for the Timberwolves who made 26.
Monk and Zeller
Malik Monk had a career-high eight assists last night. Monk and Cody Zeller are starting to develop some nice chemistry in the pick and roll as they connected on several plays resulting in a season-high 16 points for Zeller. Once Monk gets more consistent with his scoring that tandem could be lethal.
The Hornets and Timberwolves will meet again in two weeks on November 20th in Charlotte.
Now Charlotte will focus on ending this losing streak when they take on Kristaps Porzingis and the New York Knicks at the Garden on Tuesday, November 7th, at 7:30 PM EST.