Charlotte Hornets cannot stop the LA Clippers from scoring in loss

The Charlotte Hornets took on the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night; a game that did not go their way.

In what seemed to be a close game at the beginning of the game, the Charlotte Hornets could not stop the Los Angeles Clippers from scoring late in the game. The final score for this contest would be 128-109; the twenty-first loss of the season for the Hornets.

In this game, the Hornets only had one player score over twenty players and had a total of six players end with double-digit scoring. This would be nothing compared to the Clippers’ four players who scored over twenty points.

There were some good takeaways from the game, some bad, and a lot of ugly. This is a game that the Hornets hope to erase from their memory, as they still have three more road games left in their road trip out west.

The Good

In his return, Jeremy Lamb would score sixteen points and grab six rebounds. Showing no sign of injury, Lamb seemed to be healthy during the game; he proved this by attacking the rim early in the game.

While Lamb played well, the star of the game would end up being Malik Monk, who finished the game with a team-high of twenty-four points! Monk was also excellent from the charity stripe, knocking down all six of his free throw attempts.

The Hornets were also able to finish the game with ten offensive rebounds. In past seasons, the Hornets have not had a lot of luck grabbing offensive boards, but it seemed to come easy against the Clippers.

The Bad

Hornets star Kemba Walker seemed not to be himself Tuesday night; only picking up thirteen points; finishing the game 6 of 18  from the floor. If the Hornets want to win in winnable games like this one, they must have more scoring from their star player.

Late in the game, an injury on rookie Devonte’ Graham occurred while he was contesting a jumper from Lou Williams. After reviewing the injury, it seemed as if Graham came down awkwardly on his right ankle.

Coach Borrego also only played shot blocker, Bismack Biyombo, for a low number of fifteen minutes as a starter. Bismack has proved to be a tenacious defender and has averaged 25.5 minutes in his previous two games as a starter. Biyombo would finish the game with four points on two of two shooting, and six rebounds.

The Ugly

In this loss, the Hornets allowed the Clippers to get a whopping number of eleven blocks as a team. This proves that the Hornets were outmatched while they were attempting to take the ball to the rim.

Allowing a couple of players to score over ten points is okay, but when you are letting four players score over twenty, that is bad! In this loss, these players dominated against the Hornets: Lou Williams (27 PTS), Montrezl Harrell (23 PTS), Tobias Harris (23 PTS), and Danio Gallinari (20 PTS).

The Hornets also allowed the Clippers to get twenty-one fastbreak points, compared to their nine. This means that the Hornets failed to play transition defense during the game, allowing many quick and easy baskets for the Clippers.

The Hornets look to pick things up as they take on one of the toughest backcourts in the NBA on Friday night, against the Portland Trailblazers. The Hornets must play defense, and find a way to contain Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in this upcoming game.