Acknowledging the Charlotte Hornets’ situation while embarking on a six-game excursion stretching across three time zones, Steve Clifford succinctly described what they are up against over the course of the 11-day voyage. “We’re playing really good teams on this trip,” the coach said, “and we’re going to have to put 48 minutes together.” And once again, try to accomplish the feat short-handed. There was no such luck in the opening act, though, and Gordon Hayward exiting in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s 113-104 loss to the LA Clippers at Crypto.com Arena definitely didn’t help matters. Already banged up without LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Mark Williams, the Hornets’ nonstop injury train added another passenger thanks to Hayward’s left calf strain, leaving the veteran unavailable while Charlotte coughed up a rare fourth-quarter lead.
Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) watches game action from the bench against the Los Angeles Clippers during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Gary A. Vasquez USA TODAY NETWORK “They brought James Harden back in the game,” Clifford said. “He was the best player in the game. When he was out, we took good advantage of it. When he came back in, we just couldn’t guard him. We tried everything we could do. Basically, he crushed every part of it. “So, he was out, we were in good shape. He came back in, the game changed.”
In other words, just a typical night for the Hornets (7-21) in season spiraling in the wrong direction. “I think we had a lot of mistakes at the end of the fourth quarter that led to our loss obviously,” PJ Washington said. “But for the most part we played a great game. … So, obviously we got a lot to work on, but we did a better job than before.” Here are three things we learned about Charlotte after its eighth straight loss:
