Takeaways from the Charlotte Hornets fourth consecutive loss
The Charlotte Hornets dropped 4 straight games as the Boston Celtics comeback to topple the Hornets in the 4th quarter, 90-87.
The Charlotte Hornets lost to a Boston Celtics team without Kyrie Irving who left early after getting elbowed in the face by teammate Aron Baynes, and without Al Horford. The Hornets have now lost all four of their games during their road trip. They are 1-6 on the road which is second worst in the league only ahead of the 0-4 Utah Jazz.
4Th Quarter Meltdown
Through the first three-quarters, Charlotte played excellent basketball, in particular on the defensive end. They held the Celtics to just 64 points on 33% shooting from the field and 29% from the three-point line.
But once the final quarter started things went down-hill quickly. Charlotte only managed to score three points through the first nine minutes of the fourth, that’s not a typo, the Hornets scored just three points in nine minutes of basketball. During that same stretch, the Celtics put up 20 points taking an 84-79 lead and taking control of the game.
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Charlotte shot 20% from the floor in the fourth and connected on a total of zero shots from deep. Other than Kemba Walker no Hornet saw the ball go through the net, except for Malik Monk who made one free throw.
The Hornets had six turnovers in the fourth quarter alone. Kemba and Frank Kaminsky lost the ball, Dwayne Bacon threw some bad passes and Dwight Howard had an offensive foul and a travel called on him.
This isn’t just a one-time occurrence. The Hornets are near the bottom of the league in every offensive fourth quarter stat. Charlotte is shooting a league-worst 35.8% from the field, and a second worst to the Los Angeles Lakers at three-point % with 23.7%. They are 29th in the league in points with just 23.1 per game and also last in assists with only 3.1. The Hornets hold the worst fourth-quarter offensive rating with 92.2 rating.
Frank Kaminsky is a very one-sided player
If Frank isn’t making shots he provides nothing to the team. In the first half, he was a big reason for their 18-point lead. He was 5-6 from the floor and had all of his 14 points.
In the second half, he went scoreless shooting 0-5.
Kaminsky becomes a liability when he’s not scoring. He’s not a very good defender. He struggles to stay in front of most of his match-ups. Frank isn’t a very good pick and roll defender. He has difficulties getting out to stretch bigs on the pop and isn’t athletic or long enough to protect the rim.
Kaminsky is quite possibly the wort seven-foot at rebounding in the league. He had just one rebound against the Celtics in 24 minutes. Kaminsky is averaging just four rebounds a game in 26 minutes a night.
Free Throws
Charlotte has missed a double-digit number of free throws for the fifth time this year. They are now shooting a league-worst 68% from the charity stripe.
Dwight is the main reason for the teams fall from the best free throw shooting team to the worst. Howard is shooting a career-low 40% from the line. He has missed nine or more freebies in three games this season and has only made over 50% of them twice. He doesn’t have to shoot 80% but just getting it up to 50%-60% would make a big difference.
The Charlotte Hornets have 4 days off following their road trip. Their next game will be against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, November 15th, at 8 PM in Charlotte.