Indiana Pacers use a big second half to beat the Charlotte Hornets 98-77

Charlotte Hornets lost to the Indiana Pacers 98-77 on Wednesday night. It’s the third straight loss for the Hornets and fourth in previous five games. Since the All-Star break the Pacers have held 9 of their 11 opponents to fewer than 100 points. The Pacers never seemed tired, even though they were on the second night of a back-to-back after losing to at New York Knicks last night. Hornets starting shooting guard Nicolas Batum missed his second straight game due to a migraine, Batum went and had a CT scan done early today and the result was negative. So hopefully Nic can come back Saturday. Nothing was decided in the first half of this game, Pacers and Hornets were tied 42 apiece at halftime. The Pacers did open the second half on a 21-5 run to quickly take a double-digit lead and would eventually outscore the Hornets 33-16 in the third quarter. Charlotte would make one last comeback attempt, opening the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run that pulled the Hornets within 10 points. But the Pacers answered with a 14-2 run to go ahead by 22. The Hornets eventually waved the white flag and put the bench players in around four minutes left in the game.

            The MVP for the Hornets this game would be Briante Weber who scored 8 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Weber who is on his second 10-day contract with the Hornets took over for Brain Roberts as the backup point guard for the Hornets this game. He did not disappoint. The past two games Weber has played excellent for the Hornets, he hustles, is fast and athletic, plays great defense, can get into the line and make layups or kick it out to the right player for a three-point jumper, has a good mid-range jumper, makes good decisions when the ball is in his hands, has active hands on defense (2 steals against the Pacers) and is basically everywhere on defense. I’m not saying that Weber should be our full-time backup point guard, but he been playing better than Brain Roberts and I do believe he’s earned another 10-day contract or even a rest of the season contract. Hornets shot 13% from the three-point line only making 3 of 23 attempts, Pacers made four times as many three’s than Charlotte did. Charlotte did outscore the Pacers in the paint 42-18 but only shot 40% overall while Indiana finished at 53%. There not much else to say about this game, Charlotte just didn’t look invested into it and the Pacers just took over in the second half. I do believe after watching this game, the Hornets are trying to tank this rest of this season. From how they perform to the number of minutes some players played from others. I don’t blame them, I typed an entire article on how they should. The leading scorers for the Hornets this game were Frank Kaminsky with 20 points, Marco Belinelli with 11 points, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with 10 points, Jeremy Lamb with 8 points and 7 rebounds. The leading scorers for the Pacers this game were Paul George with a season-high 39 points, Monta Ellis with 16 points, Jeff Teague with 8 points 11 assists, Myles Turner with 6 points and 11 rebounds. Charlotte Hornets (29-39) host the Washington Wizards Saturday. 

Charlotte Hornets win back to back games! Beating the Indiana Pacers 100 to 88

Returning home after three weeks on the road the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Indiana Pacers 100 to 88. It’s the first time since January 20-21 the Hornets have won consecutive games. It was the first time the Hornets were on TNT this season. Backup center Miles Plumlee (right calf strain) and backup forward Frank Kaminsky (sprained left shoulder) were both out for this game. Charlotte started the game on a fast start, using a 9-0 run to push their lead to 18-11 with three minutes left in the first quarter and with Batum banking in a three-pointer at the buzzer to help give the Hornets a 27-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. Charlotte would use a 10-2 run right before half to lead 58 to 37 at halftime. Pacers 37 points in the first half matched a season-low for a Hornets opponent. But, the Pacers would start the third quarter scoring 10 unanswered and would hit five three-pointers in the quarter to help outscore the Hornets 29-16 in the third. Indiana would cut the lead to 82-75 early in the fourth quarter, but Lamb’s three and layup help kept the Pacers at bay and with MKG and-1 under two minutes left that pushed Charlotte’s lead to double-digits and helped seal the victory for the Hornets.

            The MVP for the Hornets this game would be Nicolas Batum who scored 21 points. Nic played at another level tonight, hitting tough shots, making crisp passes, and just playing hard. If the Hornets want to make a run into the postseason there going to need Batum to play like this for the rest of the season. The Hornets played great, forced 15 turnovers which helped them get a big lead early in the game. Even though the Hornets allowed the Pacers to get back in the game in the second half. The Hornets was able to push their lead back to double-digits and finish late in the game. The leading scorers for the Hornets this game was Kemba Walker with 28 points 7 assists 6 rebounds, Jeremy Lamb with 14 points, Cody Zeller with 13 points 11 rebounds, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with 11 points and 13 rebounds. The leading scorers for the Pacers this game was Paul George with 36 points 10 rebounds, CJ Miles with 16 points, Monta Ellis with 12 points, Jeff Teague with 10 points and 8 assists. Charlotte Hornets (28-35) will travel to Miami to face off against the Heat Wednesday night. Also, Congratulations to Kemba Walker who was named Eastern Conference player of the week on Monday. He averaged 27 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds from February 27-March 5. It’s the fifth time he won the award. 

Charlotte Hornets lose to the Indiana Pacers, 110 to 94

Charlotte Hornets went against the Indiana Pacers Monday night and lost 110 to 94. The Hornets shot 33% from the field but did shoot 87.5% from the free throw line to help keep the Hornets in the game, while the Pacers shot 48.9% and making 17 threes in the game and had 11 blocks. Jeff Teague scored or assists on 19 of Pacers final 23 points. Paul George picked up where he left off Saturday where he scored 37 points in a win over Portland, he started the scoring off for the Pacers with a 3 pointer and a nasty turnaround jumper. But was mostly quiet until the fourth quarter when he scored three straight times. Charlotte shot 30.8% from the field in the first half and 8 turnovers, but did closed the first half on an 8-1 run to trail 45 to 43 at halftime. C.J. Miles made a go ahead three pointer with 5.6 seconds in the third quarter to start an 11 to 1 run by the Pacers. Charlotte went on a little run in the fourth quarter when Frank Kaminsky hit a three-pointer and a Jeremy Lamb fast break layup to cut the Pacers lead to five, but Miles Turner three pointer with 1:12 to steal the victory for the Pacers.

            The MVP for the Hornets this game would be Marvin Williams with 13 points, Marvin has been playing well all year long. Others scoring leaders for the Hornets was Marco Belinelli with 14 points, Nicolas Batum with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Kemba Walker with a season-low 12 points and 5 assist. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was 1 for 9 for 6 points, who did not play in the fourth quarter because he been struggling on offense. Also, looks like Frank Kaminsky confidence is low and is really struggling on offense, the entire second team is really struggling other than Belinelli so Frank need to start stepping up because we need his scoring off the bench. Pacers leading scorers was Paul George and Myles Turner both had 22 points, Jeff Teague with 16 points and 11 assists, Rodney Stuckey scored 14 points before the leaving the game in the fourth quarter with a left knee contusion. Charlotte Hornets (14-11) play again Wednesday at Washington Wizards.