Recap/Analysis: Hornets shoot well but lose to Clippers, 130-118 – At The Hive

Brandon Miller scored 22 and Miles Bridges scored 33, but that and 23 3-pointers weren’t enough for the Charlotte Hornets to beat the Clippers.

The summary

The Hornets started with a boom when Vasilije Micic found Nick Richards diving to the rim on a pick and roll. Brandon Miller, who guarded his idol Paul George, followed that with a three. He hit a second three a few possessions later then blocked George attempting a three of his own. The Hornets defense gave way after that. The Clippers scored 18 points in the final five minutes of the quarter with little resistance from the home team. They didn’t miss many shots and corralled three offensive rebounds when they did miss. The Hornets trailed 31-25 heading into quarter two.

Paul George responded to his understudy’s hot start by erupting for a 17-point second quarter. He hit four threes and hit a bunch of tough jumpers despite some good Hornets defense at points. The Clippers kept leaving Miles Bridges open at the other end and he eventually started hitting a few threes of his own to slow down the Hornets falling behind. They trailed by 12 at the half.

Bridges and Miller continued to carry the Hornets offensively through the third quarter. The duo combined for 18 points and each made a pair of threes. They led the Hornets to outscore the Clippers in the third and shaved one point on their deficit heading into the fourth quarter.

The Clippers started the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run that effectively put the game out of reach, but the Hornets didn’t go away quietly. Davis Bertans made three straight 3-pointers, the third of which was an off-the-dribble step back. Grant Williams added a layup and a 3-pointer of his own to get the Hornets back within single digits. They got as close as six with around five minutes to play when Miller hit another three. They hung around there for a while with Bridges making a three and Bertans adding one more, but the Clippers had answers every step of the way. Eventually the 3-pointers stopped falling and the Clippers played the free throw game to get their 12 point win.

The Good

Come here just to read the Brandon Miller praise. The Hornets rookie seemed extra motivated to play against his idol Paul George. The two matched up against each other defensively on a lot of possessions and you could tell Miller wanted to give George a few buckets. At one point Miller put George on his fanny with a bump into a step back three, but he couldn’t cash it in. He used the same move to make a three, though George didn’t fall for that one. It was a great night of shot making for the should-be Rookie of the Month for the month of March.

Miles Bridges was similarly engaged and even more productive. He scored 33 points and made a career high seven 3-pointers. Perhaps more encouraging on a macro level, he looked more locked in than normal when matched up one on one defensively against George and Kawhi Leonard. He didn’t necessarily make a ton of stops, but the intensity was good. And 33 points on 20 shots will always land you in The Good.

Grant Williams and Davis Bertans had very good games off the bench. Bertans took all nine of his shots from behind the 3-point line and hit five of them He was very aggressive hunting his shot.

The Hornets sneaky almost tied their franchise record for 3-pointers made in a game. They ended up 23-52 from deep. They’d win a whole lot more games if they could do that more often. Williams was extremely efficient and chipped in five boards and five helpers as well. He never seems to have any huge moments, but he’s consistently put up quiet, robust stat lines.

The Bad

The Hornets finally brought their offense to the office with them but they didn’t get the stops they needed to capitalize. I don’t want to say the defense was bad, because there weren’t an excessive number of breakdowns. The Clippers just have really good offensive players, and those offensive players made really good offensive plays. The Hornets did put the Clippers on the line 34 times, and the other team is always going to score a lot with that many free throws. But at least the Hornets provided some resistance.

What’s Next

The Hornets are right back at it on Monday night when they host the Eastern Conference leading Celtics.