The Charlotte Hornets were up to their same old tricks and added another loss to their record with a 122-105 defeat to the Miami Heat on Sunday night.
Miami controlled the action from the opening tip, while the Hornets were ice cold offensively. But after bricking their first four 3-pointers a timeout by first-year coach Charles Lee lit a small blaze under the squad.
Led by a strong stretch from the combo of Nick Smith Jr. and Mark Williams, the Hornets vaulted to a 41-29 lead at the halfway point of the second quarter. But the Heat, who were on a ten-game losing streak entering Sunday’s matchup, had the last laugh of the first half with an ensuing 28-6 surge.
Smith Jr. scored 19 and LaMelo Ball had a double-double with 18 points and 11 assists for Charlotte, which led by 12 early but were officially eliminated from postseason contention. The Hornets have not made the playoffs since 2016, a seven-game Round 1 loss to Miami. Williams had 14 points and 5 boards.
Lee’s defensive concerns continued after halftime. Andrew Wiggins (15 points in the third, 42 in total) for the second-highest scoring game of his career, showed off his scoring ability, knocking down 16 of his 21 field goal attempts, with all but one coming in the halfcourt. He drilled six of his eight threes and finished with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Tyler Herro (11 in the third, 29 overall) took the Hornets’ defense to school and they also got enough help from the rest of their rotation to put together a 39-point quarter as a team.
“I mean, obviously, [Andrew Wiggins] made about every shot he took tonight,” Herro said. “We shot, overall, a really good percentage as a team. Thought we were getting the right shots; everyone was moving the ball. No holds really tonight, getting the ball where it needed to go, it was a great offensive game.”
The reason for this latest loss was not the fact that the Hornets struggled offensively. They simply could not match Miami’s firepower scoring-wise or put an end to the onslaught on the defensive end. A very slight comeback in the final minutes of the game did not change matters.
The Hornets lack an above-average wing defender, especially in the absence of Josh Green, Josh Okogie, and Grant Williams. While Wiggins and Herro did not exclusively score in one-on-one situations, the lack of a lengthy, mobile matchup made life easier for them when they did attack in isolation.
“We started slow, we just stuck with it and we were able to make plays for each other, everyone hit shots,” Herro said. “I think it really started on defense, though, getting a lot of deflections, steals, being disruptive and then getting out in transition.”
Bam Adebayo agreed with the sentiment.
“Yeah, I’ve always stated that if we get stops and run, we’re a hard team to beat,” Adebayo said. “Now when we keep letting teams score, that’s when it can get ugly for us, but, when we get stops and run in transition, that’s when everyone touches the rock, that’s when we’re not running plays, that’s when we’re just playing instinct basketball.”
The Hornets host Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.
The Heat continue their homestand Tuesday for a spicey matchup against Jimmy Butler and the Golden State Warriors.
