The Charlotte Hornets will start 2025 with a record of 7-25 after failing to notch more than one win in December for the second year in a row. They could have avoided such a result had they taken advantage of the chances they were presented to put the Chicago Bulls away on Monday.
Charlotte even gained the upper hand early, building a 24-15 cushion by the end of the quarter. However, after holding the opponents to their lowest-scoring output in a period this season, the Hive squad allowed 37 points in the second stanza while scoring just 22.
The Hornets were unable to recover fully. A miraculous 3-pointer by Miles Bridges sent the game to overtime, but their defense allowed Chicago to put up 17 in the extra period — two more than they did in the opening quarter.
Hornets' lack of discipline has been a bane
What Charlotte allowed the Bulls to do wasn't just a one-time thing. The team digging itself a huge hole has been a recurring theme this 2024-25 campaign. A glimmer of hope for the Hornets, though, is that they have shown some fight in those matches, particularly in the fourth quarter.
However, the deficits they have faced have usually been too tough to make a complete rally from.
Hornets coach Charles Lee provided an explanation behind their 37-22 second quarter against Chicago, attributing their disappointing performance to their unnecessary fouls in "halfcourt and in transition." The rookie coach also brought up how the players still have to learn to understand tendencies and defend without fouling.
A look at the stats of the second period shows that Charlotte committed five fouls that led to 10 free throws from the Bulls. What actually gave the Windy City squad a huge advantage was its good ball movement (11 assists) that resulted in efficient shooting (57.1 percent) and seven 3-pointers. Making it worse was the Hornets going 9-23 from the field.
The lack of discipline has doomed the team way too many times this season. Perhaps fans have to be more understanding since Lee is still learning the ropes and has had to deal with several of his key players having to sit out a lot of contests due to injuries.
Still, if the Hornets plan on avoiding the bottom of the standings, they will have to work on their discipline on the defensive end of the court. Currently, they are one of the worst in the league in free-throw attempts differential. Some might say that the referees have something to do with that, although there's only so much the team can control.
It remains to be seen how Charlotte plans to address the issues Lee brought up. Maybe looking for a defensive leader among the players should be among the top entries on the organization's to-do list this year.