Recap/Analysis: Hornets play no fourth quarter defense in loss to Wizards – At The Hive

The Charlotte Hornets were only able to muster two defensive stops in the entire fourth quarter as the lost to the Washington Wizards, 112-100.

Summary

The Hornets dug themselves into an early hole by refusing to guard the Wizards in transition. They worked their way back into the game when the benches came in and the Wizards started taking and missing bad shots. It was a very physical quarter for one that ended without the Hornets shooting a free throw. They were bothered by that physicality and ended the first down 24-16.

The second quarter looked like what you’d expect from a game between two of the worst teams in the league. Both teams had really bad misses and inexplicably sloppy turnovers. The Hornets finally made their first three with under five minutes to play in the second. It took 18 attempts to get there. They then made three straight threes and got their first free throw attempt on a Miles Bridges and-1. That spurt trimmed the deficit to three heading into the half.

Brandon Miller hit a three for the 18th game in a row to open the Hornets scoring. The visitors ended up going on a 13-0 run by capitalizing on a flurry of Wizards live ball turnovers and bad misses. That run gave the Hornets their first lead of the game, and they built as large as 10. Deni Avdija cut it to eight with a layup at the buzzer.

The fourth quarter saw the game return to its opening form. The Hornets were throwing up nonsense at the basket while the Wizards were attacked the basket against almost no resistance. It took less than four minutes for that eight point lead to be completely wiped away. A handful of those layups got a foul call added on top of them as well. The Wizards only missed four shots in the fourth quarter, and they rebounded three of those misses. That means the Hornets grabbed exactly one defensive rebound in the fourth quarter. They gave themselves no chance, and were outscored 44-24 in the decisive fourth quarter.

The Good

A daily Brandon Miller shoutout. 21 points on good but not great efficiency. He has to clean up the sloppy fouls, but his offense talent shows up night in and night out. He has tied LaMelo Ball’s record for consecutive threes made by a Hornets rookie.

JT Thor put in a good shift. He hit both of his 3-point attempts. There are still little things he needs to do better, but hitting his jumpers would be a big step in the right direction.

The Bad

The Hornets have officially lost their swagger. Injuries have obviously hurt the cause, but the Hornets just aren’t playing good basketball again after showing new life after the trade deadline. The offense had no flow or cohesiveness and featured a ton of really bad, forced shots. There were a lot of mid range jumpers off the dribble. The Hornets only assisted on 18 of their 40 made shots. That’s even more inexcusable when you consider that the Wizards have been a trainwreck defensively lately.

There were stretches of the game where the Wizards simply had to dribble in the direction of the basket and initiate some contact to get a layup. The Hornets were completely bullied in the paint and constantly out of position. Tonight more than normal it felt like guys were getting lost watching the ball and halfway helping situations that didn’t need any help. That put the Hornets in scramble mode way too often and opened up those driving lanes for the Wizards.

The bench was pretty bad. Davis Bertans scored 11 points, but it took 14 shots to get there. Bryce McGowens and Nick Smith Jr combined to score one point in 26 minutes and didn’t make a single shot from the field.

You love an NBA game where the teams combine to go 15-of-75 from three. That’s a cool 20%.

What’s NExt

The Hornets return home to take on the Nets on Saturday night.