The Charlotte Hornets came up short Saturday with a 125-118 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Hornets were not able to keep the momentum going after their win against the Detroit Pistons on Friday in their second of a back to back situation against the Grizzlies.
The Hornets came out flat, missing 15 of their first 16 field goal attempts. The Grizzlies surged out to a 19 point lead, 23-4. The Hornets shot a dismal 4-of-26 from the field and 0-of-11 from beyond the arc in the opening quarter. They dug themselves into a 20+ point hole. Memphis led at the end of one, 36-15.
Charlotte’s offense somewhat came alive in the second quarter, but they could not contain the Grizzlies from scoring. Memphis extended their lead to 35 late in the second quarter, dominating the Hornets on the interior 72-50. The Hornets are 1-10 on the second night of back-to-backs. The Grizzlies took a 31 point lead into the half, 74-43.
The second half had a similar beginning to the first half for the Hornets. They had a turnover on their first possession and the Grizzlies converted a layup. After that, the refs called the game tightly, with whistles seemingly on every possession. (There were 55 fouls called throughout the game).
The Grizzlies held their breath when Ja Morant briefly left the game in the third quarter when he appeared to roll his ankle. He left the court to get looked at by trainers in the locker room, but returned to the bench a short while later and played most of the fourth quarter.
The Hornets, at that point, went on a tear led by Terry Rozier, who scored 12 points in a short time span early in the quarter. Miles Bridges made a huge dunk to cut the lead under 20, with 4:30 left in the third. The Hornets lost some of that momentum in the final minutes of the quarter and trailed by 24, 99-75.
Charlotte went with their big lineup to start the fourth quarter. They inserted rookie JT Thor at the small forward position, with Mason Plumlee and newly acquired Montrezl Harrell on the floor as well. The strategy worked, producing a quick 8-0 run. Harrell and Plumlee did damage in the paint and LaMelo Ball hit three 3-pointers in just over three minutes of play.
Rozier checked in, replacing James Bouknight and immediately joined his backcourt mate Ball in the three-point barrage. Harrell bullied his way to the charity strike for four straight, but the Grizzlies responded with four straight of their own to take a 14 point lead, 112-98, with just under four minutes remaining in the game, seemingly putting the contest out of reach.
The Hornets would not lay down and die. After a James Borrego timeout, the Hornets erupted for a late push. Ball went on a 7-0 run by himself and forced coach Taylor Jenkins and the Grizzlies to call a timeout.
Rozier hit a shot from beyond the arc, then Plumlee connected with Thor on a baseline cut to pull the Hornets within four. The teams went back and forth with that margin for a couple of possessions, but the Hornets could not trim the deficit any further as the clock ran out.
“I was really proud of the guys. They stayed poised, they stayed calm and they stayed together throughout” the comeback, said Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins. “… You knew (the Hornets) were going to go on a run and you just have to withstand it.”
Morant led the Grizzlies with 26 points. He also had six rebounds and six assists. Desmond Banes did a little bit of everything, adding 25 points, four rebounds, five assists and four steals. Jackson Jr. had a double-double with 18 points, 10 boards and one helper. Brandon Clarke contributed 16 points, six rebounds and two assists, off the bench. Adams added 15 points and 11 rebounds and four assists.
Rozier had a game-high 35 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, just missing his second consecutive triple-double for the Hornets. Ball finished with 25 points, four boards and two assists. Harrell scored 20 points, with nine boards and two assists off the bench. Bouknight had 12 points, five rebounds and two assists.
“I don’t know if it is a road-home thing or whatever. We just have to play better, that is the bottom line,” Hornets coach James Borrego said. “We have a number of home games the rest of the way and we have to play better and get off to better starts. That is the goal here and we can protect our home court like we did early in the season and we will get back to that.”
The Grizzlies travel to New Orleans to face Brandon Ingram and the Pelicans on Tuesday. The Hornets go to Minnesota to take on Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves on Tuesday.
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