Recap/Analysis: Hornets suffer first summer league loss to Celtics – At The Hive

A poor defensive fourth quarter led to the Charlotte Hornets losing their first game of the summer league to the Boston Celtics, 89-84.

The Summary

The Hornets were without rookie Tidjane Salaun, meaning Brandon Slater got the start. It took over three minutes for the Hornets to score their first point and another 37 seconds before they made their first field goal. The Celtics weren’t much better, and the two teams slogged to a 39-33 halftime score in favor of the Hornets.

The Hornets jumped out to a double digit lead early in the second half, but a couple of strong JD Davison drives in transition spurred a Celtics response that made the game close heading into the fourth quarter. There, the Hornets defense broke down. The Celtics got a layup line of baskets at the rim and then built off that to get hot from three in the later stages of the game. The two teams traded the lead back and forth down the stretch, but the Celtics were able to make more shots.

The Good

No one had a good performance that doesn’t come with qualifiers. Zavier Simpson led the team in scoring and was probably the team’s best player, but he wasn’t very efficient. Still, he’s been a very good summer league guard.

Matt Morgan and Marcus Garrett had good scoring games off the bench.

The Bad

It was frustrating to see the defense that had been so good break down late in the game. They can’t all be winners, so it’s not terribly discouraging, but that doesn’t make it any more fun to watch.

Nick Smith Jr. has seen his efficiency trend down in the last couple of games. He made 4-of-10 3-point attempts, which is good. But he didn’t make any of his six shots inside the arc and didn’t get to the free throw line. We know he can make threes. He needs to prove he can be a three level scorer with consistency if he’s going to get minutes this season.

Leaky Black scored 0 points.

What’s Next

The Hornets have one more “regular season” summer league game before they play the consolation fifth game. They’ll play Bryce McGowens and the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night at 11:00pm Eastern time.