Charlotte Hornets Get Swept By 76ers, Extending Losing Streak to Three

The Charlotte Hornets had yet another frustrating night, losing the second game of a back-to-back to the 76ers, and dropping their third straight.

The Charlotte Hornets were hoping to bounce back in their second game of a back-to-back, against the 76ers, but instead, they lost, extended their losing streak to three games. This was yet another frustrating performance by the Hornets.

The most painful thing about this game was that they once again were beaten by not playing an entire 48 minutes of winning basketball. They once again played very well for three quarters, this time performing very poorly in the second quarter, unlike the first game where they performed poorly in the first quarter.

The Charlotte Hornets came out firing, just like many of us expected, especially after performing so badly in the opening period of Saturday’s game. On Monday night, the Hornets were only down 20-23 after the first quarter. This was a much better start to the game, but unfortunately, the Hornets could not carry the momentum over to the second quarter, being outscored 35 to 23. This put the Charlotte Hornets down at half by a score of 58 to 43, a 15 point margin.

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Here is why this is so frustrating. At the beginning of the second quarter, the Hornets were looking great. They were leading the 76ers 36 to 31 with just under 8 minutes left in the half. Directly after that, the Sixers went on a 27 to 7 run to finish the first half. The Hornets never saw a lead again in the game.

Another frustrating part of this game was that, while the Hornets never outscored the 76ers in a quarter, they played each quarter a lot more competitively outside the disaster that was the second quarter. And even then, the Hornets played a really good first half of the quarter before the wheels fell off.

By the 76ers going on the big run to finish the half, it never allowed the Hornets to be competitively in the game, so much so that with about three minutes left in the game, the 76ers put in their bench players to finish the game.

These two games against the 76ers have been an embarrassment to the Charlotte Hornets. They haven’t been embarrassing because they lost the game, but as I said many times before, it is because of the manner in which they lost each game.

Leading up to the second game of this back-to-back, there were a few things to watch for. One of the things that fans needed to watch for was how the Hornets responded to their struggles playing in the paint. In this game, the Hornets actually played worse down low than they did on Saturday night. Joel Embiid got another double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The 76ers also held Bismack Biyombo to 4 points and 4 rebounds. Biyombo scored 8 points in the game against the Sixers on Saturday night.

Tobias Harris had another great showing, scoring 22 points, Danny Green decided to make an appearance for the Sixers, scoring 13 crucial points, and Ben Simmons earned himself a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He was 4 assists away from getting another triple-double.

As bad as this night was for the Hornets, there were a few things that deserve to be praised. For starters, Devonte’ Graham had a pretty good game. After struggling in his past three games, Graham seemed to have gotten out of his cold spell. He was second in scoring, getting 15 points on 5 of 13 (38.5%) shots from the field, including 45.5% (5/11) from three.

Gordon Hayward led the team in scoring with 18 points, hitting 50% (7/14) from the field, including 28.6% (2/7) from beyond the arc. He also hit 2 out of 2 from the free-throw line.

Terry Rozier, LaMelo Ball, and PJ Washington all scored 12 points, tying for third in team scoring. Rozier hit 3 of 8 (37.5%) from the field, including 2 of 5 (40%) from the three-point line. He also went 4 out of 4 on his free-throw attempts.

LaMelo Ball went 5 of 16 (31.3%) from the field and 0 for 5 from three. He also hit 2 out of 3 from the free-throw line. To go along with his points, Ball also had 7 rebounds and 9 assists. With each and every game that is played, LaMelo Ball is proving himself to be a contender for a starting position. So far these NBA lights don’t seem too bright for him.

PJ Washington went 40% from the field (4/10) and from three-point range (2/5). He also hit both of his free-throw attempts. Jalen McDaniels had 10 points and both Miles Bridges and Caleb Martin had 7 points apiece.

The Charlotte Hornets continue their 4 game road trip on Wednesday night, as they visit one of their inner division rivals, the Atlanta Hawks. With things not starting out great for the Charlotte Hornets, let’s see if Coach Borrego decides to shake some things up. Whatever the case may be, let’s hope the Hornets can come away with a win against the Hawks, who lead the Southeast division.