The Charlotte Hornets came into the game against the Los Angeles Clippers with a huge disadvantage. Still missing Gordon Hayward and Miles Bridges, the Hornets did not have the necessary weapons to out-perform the Clippers, who had the superior talent. The 113-90 loss to the Clippers was a low point in the season.
The Hornets got off to a great start building a 6-0 lead at the start of the first quarter. The tables soon turned and the Clippers got hot, shooting 50% from the field for the rest of the quarter. Seven of those shots came from downtown, which were five more than the Hornets could muster. At the end of the quarter, the Clippers had an eight point lead, 31-23.
Charlotte’s defense came out strong in the second quarter. They were able to contain Paul George and the Clippers’ second unit to just 13 points. Los Angeles could not take care of the basketball and had six turnovers in the quarter. At the half, the Hornets led 47-44.
The Hornets were able to get off to a good start to open up the third quarter. But once again, the Clippers got back into the game because of their offense hitting 13-of-14 shots in the quarter. Clippers’ point guard Rajon Rondo continued to be red hot from 3-point range. A three point halftime lead for Charlotte turned into them trailing by seven going into the final period.
The Hornets trailed by at least 10 points for the final eleven minutes of the game. They shot 39% from the field and 9-of-33 from beyond the arc.
LaMelo Ball had a team high 18 points, 75% from the 3-point line, he sprinkled in 7 assists and 6 rebounds for the Hornets. Bismack Biyombo had 13 points and 7 rebounds. Terry Rozier struggled, only scoring 10 points. Clippers’ Paul George had a double-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Reggie Jackson had 19 points off the bench and Kawhi Leonard added 16 points.
Charlotte will finish out their regular season with back-to-back road games against the New York Knicks on Saturday and the Washington Wizards on Sunday. The play-in tournament starts for them next week.
