Charlotte Hornets: 38 point loss to Dallas shows uncertainty

The Charlotte Hornets got humiliated by the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night and the loss could make the big picture clear moving forward.

So, after a solid start to Wednesday nights game against the Dallas Mavericks, the Charlotte Hornets couldn’t stop anyone and ended up losing by 38 points. It was by far the worst loss of the season for Charlotte.

Heading into the first timeout of the game, Charlotte had a 16-12 lead. They were active, making plays and hitting shots. After that timeout, though, things got ugly really fast. Dallas was in control the rest of the game afterwards, scoring a total of 122 points on the night.

The defense was non-existent for the Charlotte Hornets. The Mavericks made 10 three-pointers in the first quarter alone, and finished with 18 three’s on the night. They also shot 46 percent from the field overall. At the end of the day, 122 points allowed is just way too much.

You don’t want to overreact after one bad loss, and that’s certainly not what I am doing. However, while the team has shown that they can compete and make things interesting in the Eastern Conference playoff race, you may want to start looking more towards the future.

There are two directions that this team SHOULD look to go in. Either assemble a roster that can truly compete in the Eastern Conference, or start over and rebuild the team. Right now, it feels like they are in the middle of that.

They’re just average right now. Hovering above or below the .500 mark isn’t going to get it done. I do think this team has potential to be a for-sure playoff squad, but things are getting tricky right now, especially with injuries and a six-game road trip approaching.

As I have stated on numerous occasions, the team does have good leadership with Kemba Walker among the players and James Borrego, who is one of the more underrated coaches in the league, in my opinion. Right now, the problem is depth, defense and enthusiasm.

Charlotte ranks 17th in the NBA in defensive rating, but they’ve been very inconsistent on that end of the floor. It doesn’t help that Jeremy Lamb and Cody Zeller, two solid defensive players, are out nursing injuries.

The good thing is that the NBA regular season is long, and it’s a grind. The Charlotte Hornets will have time to iron out some mistakes and perhaps they have yet to play their best basketball this season.

The bad thing is that the Hornets could be in a real bad spot this summer depending on how things go with Kemba Walker’s free agency. If he signs with another team, the Hornets would have wished they started building towards the future a year ago.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of this season plays out for the Hornets. One thing is certain, this team cannot continue to be in the middle of the pack. Hopefully they can get hot and put together a streak of wins at some point this season.

They’ll have a chance to do that on Saturday night, when they begin a six-game road trip in Denver to face off against the Nuggets.