The Charlotte Hornets looked like they did not come out to compete Sunday against the undermanned Phoenix Suns, losing 133-99.
Phoenix was without four players who are in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, including starting center Deandre Ayton, starting forward Jae Crowder, backup center JaVale McGee and small/power forward Abdel Nader. Coach Monty Williams is also out.
The Hornets had no defense for a barrage of shots from the Suns early in the first quarter, letting them get wide open looks from three point range. The hot shooting start enabled the Suns to build a lead as high as 17 points.
Kelly Oubre Jr. entered the game for the Hornets and looked for his shot right away. He did that to the tune of eight points, along with LaMelo Ball for the team lead after one quarter of play. The Hornets trailed by seven going into the second quarter, 36-29.
Charlotte sliced the lead down to four points to start the second quarter before they became unglued. They struggled on the offensive end of the court, allowing Phoenix to go on a 19-2 run, expanding their lead to 21 points. Former Hornets center Bismack Biyombo, playing his first game of the season, deposited a dunk off an alley-oop lob from Landry Shamet, over Ish Smith and got fouled. He hit the free throw to put the Suns up by 26, making the score 73-47 at recess.
The Hornets needed to come out with a spark to start the second half to have any chance of salvaging a victory, but quite the opposite happened. The closest that the Hornets were able to trim the lead down to was 23 after a couple of Ball three-pointers. The Suns answered right back with a run that gave them an insurmountable lead beyond 30 points. The teams would exchange baskets through the end of the quarter. The Hornets trailed by 32 at the end of three, 106-74.
The fourth quarter was extended ‘garbage time’, but the Suns did not take their foot off the gas pedal completely. Shamet nailed three shots from downtown in the first two minutes of the quarter. The Hornets had some explosive dunks and rookie James Bouknight had a power block that did not count. Other than that, the rest of the quarter had no consequence.
“They got off to a great start and they were a hungrier team,” Hornets coach James Borrego said about the Suns. “They looked like a team that had lost three in a row and we looked like a team that had won three in row. They handled their loss better than we handled our win.”
Devin Booker had a game high 24 points, with seven boards and three dimes for the Suns. Jalen Smith tied a career high 19 points and had 12 rebounds. Shamet added 17 points, Mikal Bridges had 15 and Cam Johnson and Cam Payne had 14 each. Biyombo, who signed a 10-day contract Saturday, gave them a big boost off the bench with 11 points and six rebounds. Acting coach Kevin Young had this to say about Biyombo… “He fit in better than I even would have hoped,” Young said. “… I had a really good feeling that he would be able to help us. He’s the ultimate pro and knows how to play at both ends. He was awesome.”
Ball led the Hornets in scoring with 17 points. Oubre scored 15 points and had three rebounds. Smith contributed 13 points, two rebounds and eight assists.
The Suns travel to New Orleans on Tuesday to take on the Pelicans. The Hornets play the second game of a back to back Monday against Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards.
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