CHARLOTTE, NC - The Cleveland Cavaliers evened up the season series with the Charlotte Hornets with a 113-110 victory on Monday night at the Spectrum Center. The loss drops the Hornets to 5-3 on the season.
It was a sloppy first quarter for the Hornets as they turned the ball over eight times, which led to led to some easy transition buckets for the Cavaliers. Cleveland center Jarrett Allen had himself a strong start notching 15 points and four boards in the opening quarter. Most of Allen's points came off of offensive rebounds and dunks. Mason Plumlee and P.J. Washington were bullied in the paint by Allen alongside Lauri Markkanen and rookie Evan Mobley. The myriad of turnovers prompted a 23-5 Cleveland run, giving them a 40-21 lead.
That first quarter loomed large throughout the course of the game as the Hornets had to continue to fight and scrap their way back into it. Head coach James Borrego pointed out that if it weren't for such a poor start, the end result would have been different. Charlotte won the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters but the poor start buried the Hornets in a deep hole.
“I will have to watch it. The turnovers hurt us, the offense was obviously the biggest problem," Borrego said. "We had eight turnovers in the first quarter and last night we had nine for the whole game. That is what created all the offense for them in the first. 40 points in the second quarter and we won the second, third and fourth quarters, but we just dug ourselves too big of a hole. But it was a combination of both – it wasn’t just offense; the turnovers fueled their team tonight.”
The third quarter felt like a game of tug-o-war for the most part. Charlotte would creep back to within five or so and then the Cavs would answer with a mini-run over their own to push the lead back out to double-digits. Surprisingly, P.J. Washington provided an offensive spark notching nine third-quarter points, including three buckets in a row. With under 20 seconds left to go in the third, Washington drilled a three to put an end to a Cleveland 9-0 run. Coach Borrego offered up some praise for Washington in the postgame press conference.
"I thought P.J. was good. He battled down there. Six for nine from the field, made some shots, battled defensively, so good overall effort by P.J. He's had some good games. Last night was a good, productive game for him. I thought this was another step in the right direction."
Another area that hurt the Hornets in this game was the major free-throw disparity. Cleveland attempted 23 more free throws (38-15) and no, it wasn't a lack of aggression on the part of the Hornets.
"That was significant," Borrego said of the discrepancy in free throws. "I don't remember the last time we had a game like that - 38-15. I can't go through every call, every free throw. I'm not here to go through that but +23 at the free-throw line was a major factor today."
Trailing 101-84 midway through the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers had the Hornets on the ropes. Unfortunately for J.B. Bickerstaff's crew, they couldn't deliver the final blow; the Hornets continued to hang around all the way to the buzzer. Terry Rozier was the hot hand for Charlotte late in the game connecting on three shots from beyond the arc, trimming the lead to just four with 2:04 remaining. Lauri Markkanen, Jarrett Allen, and Darius Garland all had trips to the charity stripe but each went 1/2 from the line, respectively. That alone left the door open for the Hornets.
With less than 15 seconds left and down four, Terry Rozier opted to bypass a wide-open layup to shoot a three. The shot didn't go down but LaMelo Ball came down with the offensive board and put it back in to make it a two-point game. Ball then fouled out of the game on the ensuing inbound with just two seconds left. Once again, Garland missed the 2nd free throw. Miles Bridges lofted up a full-court shot that was not only high but off the mark at the sound of the final horn.
The Hornets will now begin their five-game road swing out to the west coast starting on Wednesday against the Golden State Warriors. Tip-off is scheduled for 10 p.m. EST.
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Sluggish Start Bites Charlotte Again - Sports Illustrated
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