Hornets Fight, but Lose to Nuggets

The Charlotte Hornets battled but could not overcome the dominance of Nikola Jokic, losing to the Denver Nuggets, 113-109 on Monday, the second night of a back-to-back.

The Hornets could not contain power forward Aaron Gordon in the first quarter. He set the tone early for the Nuggets, attacking the basket and scoring 17 points. The Hornets seemed lackadaisical and turned the ball over frequently. They had to overcome the officials and questionable calls. It resulted in the Hornets trailing by nine points in a couple of segments of the opening quarter. Charlotte got to the free throw line and trimmed the lead down to two at the end of the frame, 32-30.

The Hornets went on a 7-0 spurt against the Nuggets reserves to start the second quarter, before Jokic checked back into the ballgame. He found Austin Rivers for a corner shot from downtown. The contest was flipped on its head from there.

The Hornets allowed the Nuggets to run and get out in transition after just about every defensive board and turnover. Their offense stalled and their small lead turned into a deficit. They closed the first half with a flurry, scoring six straight points in the final 38 seconds of the quarter, to take a one point lead into halftime, 57-56.

Both teams started the third quarter on fire from the field. The game got sloppy from the Hornets prospective on offense and they lost their intensity on the defensive end as well. Coach James Borrego used a timeout to stop the bleeding, but it did not work. The Nuggets surge continued with them scoring 12 straight points.

There was a brief altercation between Montrezl Harrell and Gordon. It started when Harrell appeared to step over Rivers, who was on the floor after taking a shot to the head. Then Harrell shoved Gordon and he retaliated with a shove. Harrell got two technical fouls and was ejected. Gordon also received a technical but remained in the game.

A LaMelo Ball shot from beyond the arc finally snapped the cold spell for the Hornets, but the Nuggets responded with two three-pointers of their own. Another Bones Hyland shot from deep and some non-calls on the Hornets end, led to a nine point Nuggets advantage at the end of three, 93-84.

Denver scored the first four points of the final stanza to take a 13 point lead, but the Hornets rallied to cut the lead to one, with 4:07 left, behind outside shots from Isaiah Thomas, Bridges and Ball and an alley-oop dunk by Bridges. The Hornets had several opportunities to tie the game, but the shots just would not fall. Monte Morris gave the Nuggets a five point lead, with two free throws, with 38.8 seconds left, before Rozier answered with a three.

Jokic missed a jump shot on the Nuggets next possession, but got his own rebound and was fouled with 8.6 seconds left. He made both shots, putting the game out of reach for the Hornets.

“Sometimes you do everything right and it just bounces their way,” Hornets coach James Borrego said. “I don’t have the answers right now, but I do know we have to be more physical and just go get them.”

Jokic had 26 points, 19 rebounds and 11 assists for his 19th triple-double of the season for the Nuggets. Gordon finished with 21 points, seven boards, three assists, two steals and one block. Will Barton scored 18 points, with six rebounds, three assists, and one block. Morris contributed 14 points, three rebounds, nine assists and one steal.

The Nuggets currently sit in sixth place in the Western Conference, so there’s a chance that they won’t host a playoff series. Denver has won a franchise-record 23 road games this season, so Jokic doesn’t seem all that concerned.

“It just seems like we have been good on the road,” said Jokic, offering no explanation as to why.

Bridges had a game-high 27 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double, with one assist, one steal and one block for the hornets. Ball had a double-double with 22 points and 11 assists. He also had six rebounds and two steals. Rozier had 12 points, two rebounds, eight assists and one steal. Thomas added 12 points also, with four rebounds, two assists and one steal off the bench.

The Nuggets travel to New Orleans to take on Brandon Ingram and the Pelicans on Wednesday. The Hornets travel to New York to face RJ Barrett and the Knicks on Wednesday.