Charlotte Hornets Fall Flat In Loss To The Memphis Grizzlies

The Charlotte Hornets came out flat against the depleted Memphis Grizzlies, snapping their win streak to two games.

After coming off of a two game win streak, the Charlotte Hornets were looking to start 2021 with a win, extending their win streak to three games. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The Memphis Grizzlies came into Charlotte and stomped out whatever hot streak the Hornets thought they were on.

The Grizzlies came into the game depleted, as many of their players were injured, including their young star, Ja Morant. This didn’t matter because even without several of their players, the Grizzlies played a near-perfect game. They spread the ball around, they played big down low, they played incredible defense, especially against Devonte’ Graham and Terry Rozier, and they went 80% from the free-throw line.

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The Hornets played the exact opposite. They played flat, sloppy, and unmotivated from the beginning of the game. They turned the ball over 19 times and they went an atrocious 66.7% from the free-throw line, hitting 14 of 21. On the defensive side of things, the Hornets looked just as bad. They allowed 17 points off of fast breaks, they got outrebounded 48 to 42, and the Grizzlies scored 52 points in the paint versus the Hornets’ 42 points.

The Hornets’ star players did not shine in this game. Rozier and Graham went 2 for 21 from the field and scored a combined 9 points. Each of them made one three-pointer and Rozier made all three of his free-throws. If these two guys’ numbers look like this, don’t expect a Hornets’ win.

On a little bit of a brighter note, where Rozier and Graham struggled, the rest of the team picked up their slack. Bismack Biyombo had a double-double and he was the leading scorer on the team, getting 16 points in 28 minutes of play. He grabbed 12 rebounds and went 70% from the field, hitting 7 out of 10. He also went 2 for 4 on his free-throws.

LaMelo Ball had another great night, coming in second in scoring. He scored 15 points in 26 minutes of play, going 42.9% (6/14) from the field and hitting 28.6% (2/7) from three-point range. He also went 1 for 2 on free-throws. To go along with his 15 points, he also had 6 assists and 3 rebounds.

Caleb Martin had a great outing coming off the bench, scoring 14 points in 22 minutes of play. He hit 66.7% (6/9) from the field and went 50% from three, hitting 2 of 4. Gordon Hayward also had 14 points, hitting only 38.5% (5/13) of his shots from the field and hitting 1 of 2 from the three-point line. He hit all three of his free-throws as well. PJ Washington scored 10, going 50% from the field (3/6), the three-point line (2/4), and the free-throw line (2/4).

The game was more than disappointing, it was embarrassing. Not because the Hornets lost, but because of the manner in which they lost. Nobody is going to fault them for losing a hard-fought game, but what will get a lot of negative reaction is by getting blown off your home court by a team that is ravaged with injuries, including their best player.

The Charlotte Hornets will look to get back on the winning side of things tomorrow night in Philadelphia when they face the first-placed 76ers.