Terry Rozier had a career high 43 points, however, he did not receive enough help from his teammates. The Charlotte Hornets lost to a short-handed New Orleans Pelicans team 112-110. This was a very critical game for both franchises for play-in positioning.
The Hornets were ice cold to start the game. They made three of their first seventeen field goal attempts and only scored 7 points in the first six minutes of the first quarter. The Hornets eventually found their offense. Cody Zeller was an early catalyst, scoring 9 points to trim the lead. A three quarters court shot by Pelicans’ Nickeil Alexander-Walker extended the lead to nine at the end of the quarter, 34-25.
Rozier was explosive in the second quarter and helped Charlotte turn a nine point deficit into a double-digit lead. He scored 18 in the period with the majority of them coming in a stretch halfway into the quarter. LaMelo Ball added a couple of easy baskets to help the Hornets take control. A flurry of events changed the momentum of the contest involving the Pelicans’ James Johnson and Hornets’ center Bismack Biyombo. The Hornets managed to keep the lead, 67-57, going into the locker room.
Once again Rozier came out on fire with an early 3-point field goal to start the second half. The Pelicans fought back with an 8-0 run, cutting the lead to two. Charlotte started to regain momentum, but a few bad possessions helped to keep the Pelicans in the game. Rozier canned a three despite Eric Bledsoe’s presence, which put the Hornets in the lead by seven going into the final quarter.
Charlotte could not find their shot to start the fourth quarter. They only made one field goal attempt in the first seven minutes of the final frame. The Hornets relinquished the lead to New Orleans and could not get it back. Charlotte did not have good ball movement to finish the game and could only manage 14 points in the period. Jackson Hayes mad a key defensive play to salt the game away for the Pelicans.
LaMelo Ball had another strong performance with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, but he also had 5 turnovers. The rest of the team did not have it tonight against the Pelicans. Bledsoe had a team high 24 points and 11 assists for the Pelicans. Hayes contributed 18 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocks.
The Hornets’ next game is Tuesday night against the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets are in fourth place in the Western Conference and also have the MVP front runner Nikola Jokic.
