Charlotte Hornets snapped Toronto Raptors six-game winning streak Wednesday night by beating the Raptors 110 to 106. This loss prevents Toronto from clinching home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, while the Hornets are three games back for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Raptors starting point guard Kyle Lowry was out due to wrist surgery but forward DeMarre Carroll started after missing past two games with a sore lower back. Hornets backup shooting guard Marco Belinelli played after receiving seven stitches to the face after colliding with a Milwaukee Bucks player late in last night game. Behind Frank Kaminsky 13 points in the first half Charlotte led 50-47 at halftime. But after Nic Batum and-one to start the third quarter, Charlotte would miss their next 12 shots that would allow the Raptors to go on an 12-0 run to re-take the lead. The Raptors held Charlotte to just 23% shooting in the third quarter and carried an 74-66 lead into the fourth quarter. But that’s when Marco Belinelli and Kemba Walker came alive scoring a combine 22 points in the quarter. Charlotte made eight threes’ in the fourth quarter helping them score 44 points in the quarter. Walker then hit two big threes’ in the final two minutes, including one that gave Charlotte a 104-101 lead with 37 seconds left. Then finally with eight seconds Marvin Williams hit a huge three-pointer to give the Hornets a four-point lead and take the game away from the Raptors.
The MVP for the Hornets this game is Kemba Walker who scored 19 points. It was difficult to choose an MVP for this game since there was multiply players who could’ve been MVP but Kemba takes it because Kemba struggled all game long, at one point in the third quarter he was 3-of-16 from the field. But lucky for the Hornets he came alive in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 points, and hitting two clutch three-pointers to help give the Hornets this must-win game. I guess that’s why they call him cardiac Kemba! Charlotte did a lot of good things in this game, shooting 50% from the three-point line, grabbing 11 offense rebound that lead to 22 second chance points, only turning the ball over 8 times and forcing 13 turnovers. But the main things were the bench came ready to play, Brain Roberts, Belinelli, Kaminsky and Plumlee(!) all played with a lot of energy and intensity that the bench lack last game. The starters also came ready to play, last game they looked like they didn’t care. But from tip the starters looks dialed in, especially Batum who was more aggressive on offense than usually. Hornets also played much better defense, especially at the end of the game, past games this year they would’ve have allowed the Raptors to score late in the game. But they played good team defense and held their ground. The leading scorers for the Hornets this game were Marco Belinelli with 21 points, Marvin Williams with 18 points 12 rebounds, Nicolas Batum with 15 points and Frank Kaminsky with 13 points. The leading scorers for the Raptors this game were DeMar DeRozan with 28 points 8 assists, Cory Joseph with 18 points 7 rebounds, Serge Ibaka with 15 points, Jonas Valanciunas with 14 points 15 rebounds. Charlotte Hornets (34-41) return home Friday to go against the Denver Nuggets.
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