Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
Here’s a look at how the Hornets’ players have fared in TPA through 35 games. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we take a closer look at the Charlotte Hornets‘ victory over the Golden State Warriors, Dwight Howard playing one of the best games of his career and the trade market for Nicolas Batum.
Charlotte pulls off an incredible upset (Twitter/ @Bgeis_bird)
"Hornets were a 10-point underdog at Golden State, and Charlotte made just 6 3-pointers, but pulls off the road upset. Stayed efficient on offense with good looks at the rim, limited turnovers – Hornets go 21-26 at the rim, 81 FG% – 12 steals, 32 points off 17 turnovers"
Although the Warriors were without Stephen Curry and they did play sloppy, the Hornets seized the opportunity and made the most of their chances. They we’re impressive in every facet of the game and picked up one of their biggest victories in recent memory. Ball movement played a big part in Charlotte’s win as they made 314 passes which is better than their season average of 285.
The Hornets picked not up their first win over Golden State since the 2013-14 season as they snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Warriors. It will Ben interesting to see what this result does for Charlotte. Will it give them a spark and mark a turning point in their season or will it just be a fluke? Whatever the case is, a victory over the defending NBA Champions is nothing to scoff at.
Dwight Howard plays out of his mind (CBSsports.com)
"Dwight Howard scored 29 points (10-15 FG, 9-12 FT) while adding 13 rebounds, seven assists and two steals in 40 minutes during Friday’s 111-100 win over the Warriors. The scoring was a season high for the big man, as Howard simply overpowered rookie Jordan Bell — and anyone else Golden State coach Steve Kerr threw at him — in the paint."
Not only did Dwight Howard nearly record a triple-double but he did so while scoring a season-high 29 points and tying a career-high with seven assists. The eight-time all-star played 40 minutes and ran 2.73 miles during the game which was more than any other player on the Hornets or Warriors. Golden State simply had no answer for D12’s post game as he dominated whoever was guarding him whether it was Zaza Pachulia, Jordan Bell or David West.
Every time he was double-teamed Howard found the open man and made the fight play. And even though he committed four turnovers, he made up for it by shooting 75% (9-12) from the free throw line. Not to mention that he passed a major milestone in the game by becoming only the ninth player in NBA history to reach 9,000 total defensive rebounds. Dwight also became only the this Hornets’ player to ever put up 25+ points, 12+ rebounds, 7+ assists and 2+ steals in a regular season game.
No trade market for Nic Batum? (Twitter/ @SteveKylerNBA)
"I can’t imagine its attractive by itself… However pack Batum with a young guy, take back an unfavorable contract on a guy you like. I’d compare that to the Dwight Howard deal. Ugly money, but they liked they upside."
Next: Dwayne Bacon scores 45 points in G-League debut
Coming off of an elbow injury, Batum’s value is at an all-time low. Considering that it might take a young player (which Charlotte doesn’t have an abundance of) and/or a draft pick, the Hornets’ best option is to stick with Nic and hope that he can return to form after recovering from his elbow injury. If he does so, it would not only make the team better but he would be a more valuable asset on the trade market with more potential suitors.