Charlotte Hornets take care of business defeating the struggling Phoenix Suns, 120 to 106

Charlotte Hornets blew out the Phoenix Suns 120-106 Sunday afternoon. It’s the fourth win in the last five games for the Hornets, while the Suns have lost eight straight. Charlotte is two games back from the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with ten games remaining. Charlotte Hornets came out on fire to start the game, quickly built a 30 to 7 lead with help from Marvin Williams who help sparked the run, connecting on his first three three-pointers. And would lead by 22 at halftime. The Suns did cut the lead to four with 4½ minutes left after TJ Warren made a reverse layup and Devin Booker hit some jumpers. But the Hornets would respond with a Nic Batum three-pointer and Kemba Walker cutting layup that ignited an 11-0 run and would outscore the Suns 14-5 after that to put the game away.

The MVP for the Hornets this game is the captain Kemba Walker who scored 31 points and handed out 9 assists. Kemba always comes ready to play but the past few games he hasn’t been playing well. But that changed today, shooting 55% from the field and 44% from the three are great numbers to see out of our number one scorer. He also had two buzzer beaters in this game also, hitting a three-pointer right before halftime and crossing-over a Phoenix defender and hitting a mid-range jumper as the third quarter was winding down. I guess he thought he was back at UCONN or something. That not much more to say about this game, Suns never led in this game, Hornets had 8 steals and blocked two shots which are two great stats to see from a team that is known for their defense. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist also did a great job on Booker who scored 70 points in the Suns game before this game. Shutting down Booker for the first 10 minutes of the game, not allowing him to score or get into a rhythm. The leading scorer for the Hornets this game were Marvin Williams with 21 points 7 rebounds, Nicolas Batum with 18 points 10 assists, Cody Zeller with 16 points 4 steals, Frank Kaminsky with 10 points and Marco Belinelli with 8 points. The leading scorers for the Suns were Devin Booker with 23 points, TJ Warren with 21 points 10 rebounds, Tyler Ulis with 16 points 9 assists, Alan Williams with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Charlotte Hornets (33-40) host the Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday night. 

Charlotte Hornets lose to the Phoenix Suns, 120-103

Charlotte Hornets lost to the Phoenix Suns, 120-103. The Suns are 8-4 against Eastern Conference teams at home this season. Hornets backup center Miles Plumlee missed his sixth game due to a right calf strain and Frank Kaminsky left the game in the fourth quarter due to left shoulder, which a major loss for the Hornets since Frank had been playing great the past month. The injury bug has been over the Hornets all season long. Charlotte looked good in the first quarter, good defense leading to easy buckets and led by as many as ten points. But the Suns would go on a 10-0 run in the second quarter to take the lead and would lead at halftime, 61-58. The first play in the third quarter was an and-1 from Nic Batum to tie the game up, but the Suns would quickly go on a 12-0 run to retake the lead. Phoenix led by as many as 12 in the third, but the Hornets cut the deficit to two, 87-85. But the Hornets would just run out of gas in the fourth quarter and didn’t have the offensive explosion to keep up with the Suns.

            The MVP for the Hornets this game would be Michael Kidd-Gilchrist who scored 7 points, grabbed 8 rebounds (5 of those were offense rebounds) and had 6 steals. MKG has always done the dirty work for the Hornets, playing good defense, grabbing rebounds, hitting the floor for the ball. MKG hustle every game and even though he needs work on the offense side. Charlotte did not play good defense in tonight’s game, allowing the Suns to shoot 59% from the field. Hornets should never allow any team to shot that well from the field and turned the ball over 16 times which lead to 29 fast break points for the Hornets. The leading scorers for the Hornets this game was Kemba Walker with 26 points 8 assists, Marvin Williams with 19 points, Frank Kaminsky with 16 points and Nicolas Batum with 12 points. The leading scorers for the Suns were Marquese Chriss with 17 points, Alan Williams with 16 points 12 rebounds, TJ Warren with 16 points 8 rebounds, Devin Brooker with 15 points and 9 assists. The Charlotte Hornets (26-35) play their last game on this week-long road trip Saturday against the Denver Nuggets.