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. 

Charlotte Hornets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 109-104

Charlotte Hornets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 109 to 104. Charlotte has won five straight against the Lakers and two of their last three games, while the Lakers have lost five straight and 16 of their last 20. Charlotte’s starting center Cody Zeller returned after missing six games with soreness in his quadriceps. He was on minutes’ restriction and came off the bench. He scored six points in 19 minutes of play. The Lakers started the game on fire, hitting their first five shots, but the Hornets stayed in it with help from first three of their shots being three-pointers. Charlotte would go on a 13-0 run to push their lead to six, but the Lakers responded with a 10-0 run to tie the game, but the Hornets would lead 58-55 at the half. After Clarkson put the Lakers ahead on a layup with 2:23 to play in the fourth quarter, Walker answered with a three-pointer. Then Marvin Williams then hit a three-pointer with the shot-clock winding down to put Charlotte up 103-98 with a minute left. Russell would hit back-back three-pointers in the final seconds of the game to cut the Hornets lead to just three, but Kemba four clutch free throws sealed the win for the Hornets.

            The MVP for the Hornets this game would be Kemba Walker who scored 30 points and dished out 7 assists. It’s the first time in his career where he has scored 30 or more points in back-to-back games. The 11 points in the fourth quarter from Kemba, helped the Hornets get the win. But the player who has been playing outstanding since the start of February is Frank Kaminsky who been averaging 18 points, which ranks third among NBA sophomores. The only alarming thing about this game was the Hornets gave up 22 fast break points. Most of those of points come from seals since the Lakers had 9 steals, The Hornets aren’t known for turning the ball over or allowing so many fast break points in a single game. But, on the bright side, it was nice to see Cody back on the court, he looked great besides looking a little bit out of shape which is understandable. The leading scorers for the Hornets this game were Frank Kaminsky with 24 points 12 rebounds, Marvin Williams with 16 points, Marco Belinelli with 11 points. The leading scorers for the Lakers were Julius Randle with 23 points, 18 rebounds 8 assists, D’Angelo Russell with 23 points 9 assists, Jordan Clarkson with 16 points, Nick Young with 15 points. Charlotte Hornets (26-24) go against the Phoenix Suns Thursday night.