Charlotte Hornets lost a heartbreaker Sunday night, losing to the Los Angeles Clippers 124 to 121 in overtime. Starting center Cody Zeller (sore quad) and backup center Miles Plumlee (right calf injury) were out again this game. The Clippers jumped out to a 19-8 lead in the first quarter, but the Hornets would open the second quarter on a 15-0 run to take the lead. But with the help of JJ Redick and Blake Griffin, the Clippers would retake the lead going into halftime, 59-51. The Clippers looked like they had the game in hand late in regulation when Griffin hit a three-pointer and then finished a three-pointer to give the Clippers an 113-108 lead with 48 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But Kemba would hit a three-pointer and two clutch free-throws to tie the ball game up with 11 seconds left. Chris Paul missed a falling away 15-footer as time expired. Charlotte had a chance to win it at the end of overtime, trailing by one in overtime. But when Walker caught the end-bound pass he stepped on Paul’s foot which caused him to make a poor pass, which was picked off by Jordan with 8 seconds. He followed Paul’s miss layup on the other end with a dunk that sealed the victory for the Clippers.
The MVP for the Hornets this game would be Nicolas Batum who scored 31 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and handed out 4 assists. Nic hit 7 of his 8 three-pointers in the second half, which helped the Hornets get back in the game when the Clippers were up by double-digits early in the third quarter. Batum played great in the second half of this game, I only wish he would do it in every game since we paid him to be the second leading scorer of the team. No one should complain about the Hornets performance for this game. They played their hearts out. Especially in the fourth quarter, when both Michael-Kidd Gilchrist and Frank Kaminsky fouled out and players like Christian Wood and Jeremy Lamb stepped up big time, to push the game to overtime and gave us a chance to win it in overtime. Things would've been more likely different if we had our two centers playing to contain Jordan and Griffin and if the refs didn’t make some terrible calls in the fourth and overtime, from a missed goaltending, to a couple no calls late in the game. The leading scorers for the Hornets this game were Kemba Walker with 34 points, Jeremy Lamb with 19 points 6 rebounds, Frank Kaminsky with 16 points, Christian Wood with 4 points and 6 rebounds. The leading scorers for the Clippers were Blake Griffin with 43 points 10 rebounds, JJ Redick with 22 points, DeAndre Jordan with 20 points 19 rebounds, Chris Paul with 15 points 17 assists and 9 rebounds in his second back from a thumb injury. The Charlotte Hornets (25-34) stay in Los Angeles to face off against the struggling Lakers Tuesday night.
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