Hornets Blown Out by Suns

The Charlotte Hornets suffered an embarrassing loss to the Phoenix Suns, who had their season high in scoring, 137-106 on Sunday.

The Hornets got off to a slow start once again, scoring only 15 points in the first quarter, while the Suns could not miss. Charlotte only converted on six of their shot attempts, shooting a frigid 21% from the field, while the Suns could not miss. The Hornets also struggled from 3-point range, only knocking down one of their first eleven. Point guard LaMelo Ball went 0-6 in the quarter. At the end of the first quarter, the Hornets trailed by 22 points, 37-15.

“We were getting good shots in the first quarter, but just missing,” Miles Bridges said. “We were letting our offense dictate our defense. We still got to come out ready to go.”

Things got even worse for Charlotte starting the second quarter. They rushed shots on the offensive end and their passing was not crisp. They were a step slow on defense, which allowed Phoenix to get easy baskets.

The deficit grew to as large as 29 before Ball and some other starters came in and stopped the bleeding. The Hornets were able to trim ten points off the lead as halftime neared. They started to find some rhythm on the offensive end of the court, but their defense still alluded them. They gave up another 32 points in the second quarter, making the score 69-47 at halftime.

The momentum that the Hornets had acquired late in the second quarter vanished quickly to start the third quarter. The Suns started the quarter on a 15-6 run, to extend the lead to 31 points. On a few occasions in the quarter, the lead expanded to 36 points. The game quickly turned into what is called ‘garbage time’, as both teams emptied their benches. Going into the fourth quarter, the Suns led by 28 points, 108-80.

The fourth quarter had no real consequence on the outcome of the game.

There were nine players in double figures for Phoenix. Javale McGee led the Suns with 19 points in 16 minutes off the bench. He made 9 of his 10 field goals. Devon Booker, who made his return to the Suns after missing seven games with a hamstring injury, score 16 points in 27 minutes of action. Mikal Bridges had 16 points, Landry Shamet scored 15 along with Deandre Ayton, who also had 15 boards. Jae Crowder and Chris Paul had 14 apiece, Cam Johnson contributed 12 and Cameron Payne had 11.

We have a ‘we score’ mentality,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “We score, we defend and I think when you play that way, it creates a lot of opportunity to shoot the ball from range or attack the paint.”

Miles Bridges had a game high 26 points for Charlotte, along with 5 rebounds. Former Sun Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 18 points with 5 rebounds. Jalen McDaniels had 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. LaMelo Ball flirted with a triple-double, scoring 9 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists, but was 2 of 12 from the field and 1 of 6 from 3-point range.

Virus Concerns:

Hornets’ forward Cody Martin was placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Sunday before the game. Fortunately, there were no other players affected.

The game was played with two game officials. Zach Zerba and Eric Dalen, originally scheduled, were held out of the game. Brent Barnaky, the other scheduled referee, was joined by NBA referee Bill Kennedy, who lives in the Phoenix area.

The Suns go on the road to face LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. The Hornets are playing the second game of a back to back on Monday against Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz.