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Recap/Analysis: Cold shooting dooms Hornets in loss to Suns – At The Hive

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Vasilije Micic and Grant Williams each scored 20+ points, but the Charlotte Hornets couldn’t shoot the ball well enough and lost the Suns, 107-96.

The Summary

The Hornets got off to a dreadful start. Nick Richards missed three shots around the basket and Brandon Miller picked up two quick fouls while the Hornets as a team scored three points in the first five-and-a-half minutes. Tre Mann and Grant Williams hit threes in quick succession to aid a rapid comeback that resulted in a brief Hornets lead. That would not be emblematic of the type of shooting half it would be for the Hornets–they wouldn’t make another three for the rest of half. They entered the break 2-of-22 from three.

The first of the first quarter was played evenly. The same couldn’t be said of the second. After Davis Bertans and Nick Richards scored inside, the Hornets got really jump shot happy. They hoisted up 17 jumpers (14 of them from three) and missed every single one of them. Meanwhile they made every shot they attempted in the paint. Unfortunately there were only eight of those, and that’s not enough made shots to be competitive against a team like Suns. The Suns’ stars, who had been quiet in the first quarter, all woke up and led their team to a double figure lead. The Hornets cut it to nine by halftime thanks in part to Vasilije Micic putting Kevin Durant on his wallet.

Brandon Miller broke the seal on the basket with a three early in the second half. The offense was otherwise a lot of the same. A couple of jumpers fell, but the vast majority did not. But more importantly, the defense started to fall apart. The Hornets tried doubling the Suns’ primary scorers, but they just have too many weapons and too much shooting for that to work. The Hornets were frequently caught in mismatches trying to rotate and otherwise scrambling to get out to shooters. The Suns scored 38 points in the quarter and led by 25 entering the fourth.

The Suns kind of dialed back early in the fourth quarter and then started to get a little tight when the Hornets made a run. Twice Brandon Miller got the better of Kevin Durant. First, he pinned a fast break layup by Durant. Then a few minutes later, he sent Durant stumbling away with a little shoulder bump before hitting a corner three.

It was part of a 20-5 run to start the quarter that brought the Hornets within ten by the midway point of the fourth. That was as close as they’d get though. The Suns got enough buckets to make the comeback impossible, and they cruised to the 11 point win.

The Good

Vasilije Micic and Grant Williams were the Hornets two best players. Micic got downhill to earn trips to the line and finish some surprisingly craft layups in traffic. He followed up his career high 25 points on Wednesday with 21. Grant Williams again came away with 20 points despite not really feeling like he was scoring a lot.

The Hornets made a valiant effort in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t enough to threaten the game, but they could have easily folded when faced with a 25 point deficit to a star studded Suns team. They made a game of it though.

The Bad

The Hornets offensive cohesion has been incredibly inconsistent in recent weeks. Some nights, the ball is flying around the floor and the Hornets look a team that’s been playing together for years. Other nights, everyone stands around and takes turns hoisting up heavily contested shots. Tonight was more of the latter. Micic was just about the only player that played with a good amount of urgency and decisiveness.

People (cough Shaq cough) that talk about Bol Bol like he’s some kind of superstar. It’s a one game sample of about eight minutes, which I think is more than enough to make definitive judgments. He was reckless on both sides of the ball. He threw up five shots in the first five minutes he was on the floor and committed a couple of fouls. He’s the perfect embodiment of the idea that a player can have a lot of basketball skills and still not be good at basketball.

Nick Richards role as a backup center has become more and more clear the longer Mark Williams has been out. He was only 1-of-5 from the field against the Suns, and it seems like he’s been very prone to bobbled or botched catches of passes in tight quarters.

Davis Bertans is 4-of-23 from the field and 3-of-20 from three over the last three games. He’s still got the quick trigger and is shooting with confidence, so you’d expect the rhythm to come back, but it’s tough right now.

We gotta see if Drew Eubanks has beef with Tre Mann. Twice he leveled Mann as he was attacking the basket.

What’s Next

The Hornets are already preparing to face the 76ers on Saturday night, which is the start of a four game road trip.

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