Charlotte Hornets

LAST 4 GAMES

- @ Phoenix Suns: W, 124-121

- @ Golden State Warriors: L, 121-130

- @ Sacramento Kings: W, 127-126

- @ Portland Trailblazers: L, 111-123

The last week wasn’t great for Charlotte, but they didn’t come away empty-handed. They got a surprising win against the Suns last Wednesday, but the rest of the week was more or less a usual week. They split the 4 games in last week’s slate and they only have one more game until the All-Star break. The Hornets have had some injury concerns lately and that has allowed some lesser used talent to get some time on the court. Players like Malik Monk, PJ Washington and LaMelo Ball stepped up last week and had solid games.

Against the Suns, the Hornets held off the strong Western Conference team and surprisingly won. The Hornets won the battle of the benches and it ended up being the reason why they won. Bridges, Biyombo and Monk all provided great minutes off of the bench and were key in the winning effort. Devin Booker was the game’s leading scorer, but they lost the game.

Golden State was a different story. The Warriors shot 61% from the field and 46% from three. Draymond Green had a monster triple-double (11pts, 12reb, 19ast) and Stephen Curry chipped in 29 points and 9 assists. Kelly Oubre shot 11/15 from the field and contributed 27 points. Somehow the Hornets only lost by 9. Their season series is done now, and it ended in a split. Considering how good Golden State has been in the last decade, a split series isn’t bad at all.

I mentioned last week that if the Hornets didn’t win here that they don’t deserve the playoffs and I almost had to eat those words. A late rally got them the win and it was a game that should’ve never been in doubt. PJ Washington had a monster game and scored a career high 42 points. I felt like this came out of nowhere. The Hornets were missing Graham, Hayward and Zeller in this game and the next, so I think we’re actually fortunate that the Hornets closed it out. We’ll see the Kings again in a couple weeks and I hope that game won’t be in doubt like this one was.

I knew the Battle of the Melos was going to be an interesting matchup and it turns out that it truly was and then some. Both Melos were their team’s leading scorer. LaMelo Ball had 30 and Carmelo Anthony scored 29 off of the bench. I didn’t really expect the Hornets to compete for the win especially with 3 key players injured, but they started off great. It didn’t end that way though. They were basically outplayed for 3 quarters.

As I mentioned before, there is only one more game before the All-Star Break and the Hornets didn’t have any selections for the game. LaMelo Ball was announced on the Rising Stars USA team, but they will not play the game this year, which I think is pretty stupid, but they don’t ask me my opinion. This break will give the Hornets some much needed rest and it will give the injured players some time to heal.

Week 10 MVP: Malik Monk

While most people probably would’ve chosen LaMelo Ball, I like to pick guys that aren’t always in consideration for MVP of the week. Malik Monk was the most consistent player over the last 4 games and is the Week 10 MVP. Monk averaged 23.5 PPG in last week’s contests and shot 50.7% from the field. Monk has forced Coach Borrego to include him in the regular rotation and I think we could see him remain on the team past the trade deadline. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks, but hopefully Monk can continue to carry the momentum that he’s had over the last few weeks.

NEXT GAME

- @ Minnesota Timberwolves (7-28): Wednesday, March 3rd at 8pm

The Hornets will face the Timberwolves tonight and it will be their last meeting of the season. The Hornets grabbed a win on February 12th against them and Terry Rozier put on a great scoring performance. Since their last meeting, Minnesota has a 1-8 record and they only have 2 wins in their last 16 games. A couple weeks ago, they fired Ryan Saunders as head coach and hired Chris Finch. They haven’t won since the coaching change and it appears that things are rocky, yet again for the Timberwolves. The Hornets should exploit this in the matchup tonight. Expect a win for Charlotte.

Yacs

Charlotte Hornets Report: Week 11 of 2020-21