Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets underperforming for second straight season, Dwight turns back the clock
Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
The Charlotte Hornets now have a better chance at securing at top-three pick (4%) than they have at making the playoffs this season (2%). (FiveThirtyEight.com) In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at Charlotte underperforming for the second straight year, Dwight Howard turning the clock back and the Greensboro Swarm defeating the Grand Rapids Drive.
Hornets underperforming once again (ESPN.com)
"What a strange season. None of their players have been abjectly bad, save for Batum in his first month back from injury. Even he has looked decent since, though we haven’t seen anything close to Contract Year Batum. Marvin is shooting 43 percent from deep. Kaminsky is up to a career-best 37 percent on 3s. Howard has been better than the Hornets expected."
On paper, Charlotte looks like a solid team. The basic stats back that statement up but as Zach Lowe said the “raw numbers mask massive underlying weaknesses on both ends.” With that being said, this was actually a positive thing from Lowe who wanted to point out the chemistry and lob plays between Nicolas Batum and Dwight Howard.
Ben Falk of Cleaning the Glass added that the Hornets have a similar point differential to the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers but are way out of the playoff picture while all of those teams are securely in the postseason. This is the second straight season where Charlotte has “massively underperformed” their point differential. What it comes down to is their lack of success in close games. For whatever reason, they’ve lost almost every close game over the past two years.
Dwight Howard turns back the clock (Twitter/ @ClevisMurray)
"Dwight Howard (32) is the oldest Hornet with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in a game since Anthony Mason (33) in 2000."
This was Dwight’s second 30-point game of the season after only having one such outing last year. It was also Howard’s 36th game with at least 12 rebounds during the 2017-18 campaign. The eight-time all-star has looked rejuvenated all year and it showed in this game as he looked somewhat like the Dwight Howard of old.
When Anthony Mason accomplished this feat in 2000, he put up a triple-double with 31 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in a Hornets’ win against the Toronto Raptors. Although Dwight’s wasn’t as impressive, he did have a monster game that led to a victory for Charlotte over the Phoenix Suns.
Greensboro Swarm hold off Grand Rapids Drive (Gleague.NBA.com)
"Cat Barber had a season-high 32 points and Damien Wilkins chipped in 25 points as the Greensboro Swarm held off the Grand Rapids Drive in a, 110-106, overtime victory. Wilkins scored five of the Swarm’s nine points in overtime to fend off the Drive’s second half comeback."
Next: Hornets approach former Cavs' GM David Griffin
The Hornets’ G-League affiliate picked up their second win in their last three games as Cat Barber dropped 29+ for the second consecutive outing. The 38-year old Damien Wilkins came up clutch for Greensboro in overtime as they outlasted Kay Felder (28 points and 11 assists) and Grand Rapids. Considering that the Drive are over .500 and the Swarm are the second-worst team in the East, this is a big win for Greensboro.