3 takeaways from the Charlotte Hornets’ heartbreaking loss at Cleveland
The Charlotte Hornets fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 99-100, dropping to 0-2 in the season series and 1-8 on the road.
Steve Clifford and the Charlotte Hornets continue to struggle to find a way to win games away from the Spectrum Center. Although they didn’t come away with the victory against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers they were right there in the game from the tip to the final whistle.
Kemba Walker‘s Goes Cold
Through the first 30 minutes Kemba Waker was efficiently scoring, going 5 of 10 from the floor and 2 of 5 from behind the arc. But in the last 18 minutes against Cleveland, Kemba went ice cold connecting on just 1 of 11 from the floor. He was so cold that he couldn’t even make a free throw (0 for 2 from the line).
Walker has hit a cold stretch of games. Over the last three games, he’s made less than 40% of his attempts in each outing. He is shooting just 32.7% from the floor since November, 20th.
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?
Dwight’s Dominance
With Tristan Thompson still out for the Cavaliers, Dwight Howard had a match-up advantage every time he got the ball. Unlike in the first meeting with Cleveland, Dwight stayed out of foul trouble and managed to abuse the Cavaliers under-sized front-court players. Howard was commanding a double team every time he touched the ball. He started strong going 5 for 6 and scoring 11 points in the first half. When Ty Lue decided to try the hack-a-Howard Dwight made both his free throws and mad 5 of 7 in the second half.
This was the third consecutive game that Dwight tallied at least 20 points and 13 rebounds. And over the last four games, he has been Charlotte’s best player. He is averaging 21.8ppg 15.5rpg and 1.8bpg while shooting 68.1% from the field and 59% from the free throw line.
Unpredictable Frank
Frank Kaminsky has had a lot more downs than ups this season. One night he scores 24 points in under 22 minutes, on 9 of 15 from the field. Then 2 games later the only thing he does in 14 minutes of play records one assist, two turnovers. and a foul with zeros in all other categories. He has had three games with a plus/minus of +18 but he has also had 3 games with at least a -19 (including -31 against Minnesota).
I know it’s early but Charlotte should consider trading Kaminsky if he doesn’t start showing some consistency. They don’t have much cap-space so they would have to target someone like Mo Speights in Orlando. Who is putting up similar numbers to frank in half the court-time while shooting 43% from deep.
Charlotte will take on the San Antonio Spurs tonight at 7 ET, in Charlotte.