Hornets Recap: Knicks Squash Charlotte’s Winning Streak

The Charlotte Hornets continued their five-game home stand against the New York Knicks on Wednesday, March 23. Winners of their last five games, the Swarm came into this one red-hot and were looking to beat a Knicks team that had lost four of its last six contests.

Unfortunately, the Hornets came out flat in the first quarter. Starting the game with a 40-24 deficit at the end of the first frame, Charlotte could not close the gap the rest of the night. The remainder of the game was relatively close.

The Hornets actually won the final three quarters, 82-81, but the first-quarter demolition was too much for the Swarm to overcome. Charlotte’s five-game winning streak ends with a 121-106 loss.

As is usually the case in blowouts, the shooting really tells the story in this one. The Knicks shot 51.8% from the field, 44.4% from three, and 88.2% from the foul line. When comparing that to the Hornets’ split of 47/28/53, it is clear to see that the better team won tonight.

The Knicks featured seven players scoring double-digits. LaMelo Ball, who led the game in scoring at 32, was one of four Hornets to eclipse the double-digit threshold. The loss, however, is anything but LaMelo’s fault. With his 32 points, the All-Star chipped in nine rebounds, five assists, and six triples.

The rest of the offense couldn’t get anything going. Terry Rozier scored 18 inefficient points on 6-16 shooting. Miles Bridges had an effective line of 15 points, five rebounds, nine assists, two steals, and one block, but he missed all four of his three-point attempts.

The second unit, which has been a massive help over the previous five games, was ineffective all night. Isaiah Thomas cooled off from his hot stretch, but he was the only rotation player who ended the game with a positive plus/minus.

Overall, it was a rough performance against a struggling opponent. With the playoffs (and play-in) right around the corner, the Swarm are still in good shape to play for postseason basketball. Tonight hurt their odds a little, but they still have plenty of firepower to make the play-in tournament.