Charlotte Hornets: 4 reasons for a hot 4-1 start

Charlotte Hornets reason #4: The defense is better than expected

This Hornets team is never going to be amazing defensively, but surprisingly to me, they have not been horrible.

In the first halves of games, the defense has been pretty bad, but as the game goes on and time starts to dwindle away, this team locks in on defense and does just enough to pull out a win.

In every game, except the Celtics game, Charlotte has outscored its opponents in the second half. One big reason for this is their team defense.

In the Pacers game, the team’s first-half defense was atrocious. They were bodied on the inside and couldn’t keep up with Sabonis.

In the third quarter though, the team locked in and held Indiana to 13 points. Then at the end of the game, PJ Washington secured the win with a last-second stop.

"“We can’t afford to start games like this without presence in the paint. I thought we were just following them around the whole first half. They were dictating the physicality. I thought we turned it up there in the third quarter and it turned the game because of our physicality in the paint, on the ball as well.” Borrego said after the Pacers game."

The Hornets do a great job at forcing live-ball turnovers. In every game, except Boston, Charlotte forced their opponents into committing at least 16 turnovers. This allows Charlotte to run the floor in transition and score easy points.

Opposing teams have helped bail the Hornets out by missing shots. The team can not rely on that every game, that did not happen against Boston and look what happened.

Even though the lack of defense lost them the Boston game, it has not been the Achilles heel I thought it be. When they do lock in it wins them games.

If the Hornets are serious about making and competing in the playoffs, then they will need to play the defense they play in the 2nd half of games all game, every game.