The Cleveland Cavaliers successfully extended their unbeaten run to 15-0 against the Charlotte Hornets. That also meant the Hornets were unable to string together a win streak after defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in the first leg of their back-to-back.
What's probably upsetting for Hornets fans is that Cleveland displayed an offensive clinic despite missing leading scorer Donovan Mitchell. Impressively, Charlotte managed to keep up with the opponent, scoring 99 through the first three quarters to trail by three entering the fourth period.
Unfortunately, the Hornets' shots in the final 12 minutes stopped falling. The offensive fallout allowed the Cavs to pull away with the 128-114 win, with four of their players, namely Darius Garland, Ty Jerome, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, each recording over 20 points.
Hornets missed all their 3-pointers in the 4th
The stage was set up for LaMelo Ball's clutch heroics again. However, there was no saving the Hornets on Sunday, as the star scored just seven in the period, below his previous average of 11.7 points per game in the fourth.
In addition, none of his teammates could buy a bucket. Collectively, the Hornets missed all their 10 3-point attempts in the final stanza. Eight of those shots came at the left wing, so the squad probably should have mixed its shot selection up. Charlotte still finished a respectable 20-52 from beyond the arc. But running out of gas late doomed its chances of pulling off the upset.
Ball was stellar as usual, registering 31 points and 12 assists. On the flip side, he went 11-29 from the field and picked up his old habits a bit, turning the ball over five times and almost fouling out. Miles Bridges nearly put up a triple-double (19 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists) while the other three starters, Brandon Miller, Josh Green, and Grant Williams, scored 15 apiece.
Ball barely had help in the fourth quarter, though. Miller is supposed to be his right-hand man but went missing in action in the late game. The Hornets also just had to go through the misfortune of ace reserve Tre Mann sitting out the Sunday contest because of an injury.
Hopefully, Charlotte won't encounter a similar problem in its next bout. It will face the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, its second NBA Cup match. If the Hornets want to have a chance at advancing in the in-season tournament after losing the opener to the Orlando Magic, they will have to beat the Nets.