Hornets Take 8th Seed with Win Over Nets

The Charlotte Hornets took down the Brooklyn Nets, 119-110, giving them the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference standings on Sunday. It was the first home game this season at Barclays Center for Nets guard Kyrie Irving.

The contest started with both teams trading baskets. Two three-pointers by LaMelo Ball were quickly matched with six points by Kevin Durant. Irving received a loud ovation from the largest crowd ever for a Nets game at Barclay Center, 18,166. But Irving did not produce, shooting 0-4 in the first quarter. The Hornets offense became stagnant and the Nets capitalized with a run to close the quarter. The Hornets did not make a basket for the final 2:54, until PJ Washington took the lid off the basket with a difficult three in the final seconds. At the end of one, the Hornets were down six, 32-26.

The Hornets continuously fouled Irving to begin the second quarter. He went to the free throw line and missed the first one. Irving converted the second for his first point of the game. He knocked down his first field goal with an odd bounce on a three-point shot. The Hornets doubled Irving to keep him from getting into a rhythm.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the court, the Hornets hit a dry spell and went nearly four minutes without a field goal. Then Miles Bridges went one-on-one with Durant and drove in for a floater. Bridges sensed what the team needed and scored 11 points over the remainder of the half. The Hornets doubled up the Nets 18-9 during that stretch. Going into the half, they were trailing by four, 60-56.

Charlotte came out of the locker room on fire, especially Ball. He hit three shots from downtown to put the Hornets on top. The second year guard could not miss, knocking down shots from everywhere on the court. He finished with 18 points in the period. Washington scored eight points of his own in the quarter. The Hornets had a double digit lead in the third, but six consecutive points from Brooklyn sliced the lead to four, 93-89, heading into the final frame.

“We know we’re a good third-quarter team and we came out and set the tone,” Hornets coach James Borrego said.

The Hornets were able to rest some of their starters for the first five minutes of the fourth, against Durant, Irving and company. They outscored the Nets 9-7 in that juncture. Isaiah Thomas made a couple of contested shots to lead the Hornets offense. The Hornets struggled with their ball movement and the Nets were able to creep back into the ballgame.

Irving went on a personal 8-0 run, after starting the game 2-of-17 from the floor. Washington put the Hornets back in the lead with a driving layup against a Brooklyn closeout. Cody Martin bailed out an otherwise bad Hornets possession with a shot from deep. He hit a corner three on the next possession to put the Hornets up by five. Durant was forced into a difficult jump shot and Bridges secured the board. Rozier and Bridges connected on threes to salt the game away.

“Not the result we wanted, I didn’t shoot as well as I wanted,” Irving said. “Basically none of the things I had hoped for going well tonight just didn’t happen, and that’s just the flow of basketball.”

Ball flirted with a triple-double with 33 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Hornets. Bridges scored 24 points, had eight boards, two dimes and a steal. Washington had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds and five assists. Rozier contributed 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Durant had a team-high 27 points for the Nets, with eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals. He also passed Reggie Miller on the all-time scoring list. Andre Drummond had a double-double with 20 points and 17 boards, with three steals and three rejections. Irving had a double-double as well, with 16 points and 11 assists. He also had two boards and two blocks.

The Nets host Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. The Hornets host Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Monday, the second night of a back-to-back.