Charlotte Hornets got one step closer to making the playoffs Friday night after defeating the Denver Nuggets 122 to 114. It’s the second straight win for the Hornets, while the Nuggets have lost three out of last four games. Charlotte pulled within two games of the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Hornets completed the season sweep of the Nuggets and their third sweep of Denver in last four seasons. Hornets trailed by eight going into the fourth quarter, but scored the first 12 straight and went on a 20-4 run, Kemba Walker helped start the run with a long three-pointer and then next possession had a three-point play. Lamb hit a layup to give Charlotte a 95-94 lead with 8 minutes left, then Belinelli hit two straight threes’. After that, Kaminsky and Belinelli combined for Charlotte's next 12 points. By that time, the game was over. Frank Kaminsky and Marco Belinelli both hit three three-pointers each in the fourth helping Charlotte outscored Nuggets 36-20 in the fourth quarter.
The MVP for the Hornets this game is Kemba Walker who scored 31 points and had 8 assists. Kemba made 4-of-10 3-pointers and, as importantly, was 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. But the biggest thing Kemba Walker did tonight was becoming the second player in team history to score 8,000 points when he made a three-pointer in the first quarter. The only other Hornet player to do so is Dell Curry. Charlotte Hornets did a lot of good things in this game, hitting 17 three-pointers, the bench outscoring Denver’s bench by 50-19 ( the second straight game where the bench has scored 50+ points). The Hornets looked like a playoff team in the fourth quarter, balling the ball well and forcing turnovers and making stops when needed. Past two games the Hornets have played excellent in the fourth, when earlier in the season the fourth quarter has been their weakness. Hornets do need to work on their defense through, allowing 52 points in the paint and 48.5 percent 3-point shooting isn’t ideal. The leading scorers for the Hornets this game were Frank Kaminsky with 22 points, Nicolas Batum with 13 points 9 assists, Jeremy Lamb, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with 11 points and 7 rebounds. The leading scorers for the Nuggets this game were Nikola Jokic with 26 points 13 rebounds 10 assists, Gary Harris with 20 points, Danilo Gallinari with 19 points, Kenneth Faried with 18 points 13 rebounds. Charlotte Hornets (35-41) travel to go up against triple-double machine Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
No comments:
Post a Comment