Charlotte Hornets

LAST 4 GAMES

- vs. Indiana Pacers: L, 106-116

- vs. Indiana Pacers: W, 108-105

- vs. Milwaukee Bucks: W, 126-114

- @ Miami Heat: W, 129-121 (OT)

Unpredictability is the name of the game for the Charlotte Hornets. Just when you think that they’ll have a losing stretch, they prove you wrong. When you think they should go on a winning streak, they prove you wrong. It is a wild ride for Hornets fans this season, but more often than not, doesn’t it always seem like this? The Hornets will carry a 3-game winning streak into their 4-game homestand in the upcoming week and there are some interesting matchups coming up, but how did things go last week?

They started the week with back-to-back matchups against the Indiana Pacers, splitting those games. Terry Rozier was the best scoring player for the Hornets in those games, but PJ Washington showed up in the win, leading the team in points and rebounds. Domantas Sabonis outshined the rest of the Pacers in those games, but Malcolm Brogdon had a good stretch as well. However, Sabonis had a triple-double in the first meeting. In last week’s Hornets Report, I discussed that Charlotte needed to exploit Indiana’s poor long-range defense and while they didn’t shoot horribly from three in the first game, they shot very well in the second game.

Now the Bucks win came out of nowhere. The Hornets played practically a perfect game and they had to go against the powerhouse Bucks team. They shot the ball well, they played great defense and LaMelo Ball shined the brightest in that game. He scored 27 points on 8/10 shots and also dished out 9 assists off of the bench. Cody Zeller showed some hustle points, grabbing 15 boards and dishing out 7 assists. Rozier had to exit this game and Malik Monk saw some extra minutes and contributed 18 points off of the bench, but more on him in a little bit as well.

The game against the Heat went into OT and the Hornets prevailed, despite Terry Rozier not playing. LaMelo Ball received his first career NBA start, but the real star of the game was Malik Monk. Monk put on a 36-point performance and was 9/13 from long-range. It’s a shame Monk can only get playing time if someone is injured, but that’s the way it is. The Hornets only played 8 players on Monday, but that’s all they needed.

Week 6 MVP: Devonte’ Graham

This week was perhaps the toughest choice for Hornets Report MVP this season. Most of the players had a solid week, but I wanted to choose someone out of the ordinary. While Graham hasn’t been great for the Hornets this season, this week, he played well. He averaged 16.5 PPG and 5.8 APG in the 4-game stretch and even shot 44.7% from three. His FG percentage isn’t where he would like it to be, but it is a long season and there are some things that can be worked out as the season progresses.

NEXT 4 GAMES

- vs. Philadelphia 76ers (15-6): Wednesday, February 3rd at 7pm

- vs. Utah Jazz (16-5): Friday, February 5th at 8pm

- vs. Washington Wizards (4-13): Sunday, February 7th at 1pm

- vs. Houston Rockets (10-9): Monday, February 8th at 7pm

Tonight, the Hornets match up with the top team in the East. The Sixers and Hornets have met twice previously this season, but the Hornets lost both games by 15 and 17 points. Hopefully things go a little differently in Charlotte tonight, but it will surely be another tough matchup. The Sixers are 8-2 in their last 10 games and are really playing some good basketball. All-around, they’re just a tough matchup for Charlotte. Since they played each other twice already, they have an idea of their tendencies on the court, but that doesn’t always mean that they’ll look better in the upcoming matchup. In the previous two meetings, Tobias Harris was probably the most consistent player on the court, but Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons were tough to stop. Hopefully the Hornets can keep their momentum tonight against this tough team, but the task may be too tall especially with Terry Rozier and PJ Washington out of action tonight.

Next, the Hornets have the top team in the NBA. The Utah Jazz are coming to town and to say that they have been on a roll may be an understatement. They have only lost back-to-back games once this year and were on an 11-game win streak until Sunday when they were beaten by the Nuggets. The Jazz are 9th in scoring offense, but that isn’t the strong point of the team. Their defense is their strongest asset and it will be tough for the Hornets on Friday night. On paper, the Jazz don’t appear to be an elite team, but they will certainly fool you. Each player plays their role wonderfully. The Jazz are led by Donovan Mitchell (23.3 PPG) and Mike Conley (16.8 PPG, 6.1 APG) at guard and Rudy Gobert in the frontcourt, who averages 13.4 RPG and 2.7 BPG. Jordan Clarkson provides 17.4 PPG off of the bench as well. The travel may slow down the Jazz and hopefully that will be the case on Friday night.

The Hornets are going from the 2 of the best teams in basketball to the worst in the NBA. They play the Wizards on Sunday afternoon. The Wizards are going to have to make up a lot of postponed games soon, but they haven’t had a good year at all. Russell Westbrook was traded to Washington this offseason, but despite his and Bradley Beal’s stat sheet stuffing performances this season, they haven’t amounted to quality wins. Beal is averaging an NBA-best 35.0 PPG and Westbrook is hovering around his usual triple-double average. They have the 3rd highest scoring average in the NBA, but the worst scoring defense. This is definitely an odd team, but one the Hornets shouldn’t take lightly. The Hornets have seemingly had a tougher time with bad-record teams and the Wizards should be taken more seriously than their record shows.

The last game of the week will be against the Rockets. The Rockets team has been turned upside down in the last few months, but I think they’ll be a better team because of it. They got off to a rocky start, but are on fire as of late. They have won 6 straight games and have had a 7-3 record since trading James Harden. They seem to have a better flow in the game and to be fair, they’re better without him. Christian Wood has turned into a star and looking into his stats, I totally forgot that he is a former Charlotte Hornet. He played 13 games for them in the 2016-17 season. He is currently averaging 23.3 PPG and 10.7 RPG. Not to mention the fact that they also have John Wall, Victor Oladipo, Eric Gordon, and DeMarcus Cousins. This is a talented team and they have a lot of momentum. This will all depend on how the Hornets approach the upcoming week, but this will be another tough matchup in a week full of them.

Yacs

Charlotte Hornets Report: Week 7 of 2020-21