Miles Bridges scored 45 points, matching a career high for the second straight game, but the Charlotte Hornets lost 123-117 against the Toronto Raptors due to a poor fourth quarter play.
A REVIEW
The Hornets jumped out to an early lead of 15-3 after making their first four shots. The majority of the Hornets’ output came from Miles Bridges and Cody Martin—Bridges scored 15 points—but Brandon Miller produced the play of the quarter.
The Hornets lead 36-27 entering the second quarter after Martin and Bridges combined for 24 points in just the first quarter.
Things didn’t go quite as nicely in the second quarter. For a brief while, the teams exchanged baskets, but the Hornets temporarily lost their attacking rhythm. A timeout and consecutive three-pointers from Nick Smith Jr. somewhat corrected that. Cody Martin continued to shoot well and nailed two late threes, but Nathan Mensah’s poor screen made one of them ineffective. With 15 points from Bridges and 12 from Martin, the Hornets led by six points at the half.
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— Bally Sports: Hornets (@HornetsOnBally) February 8, 2024
Early in the third quarter, Cody Martin maintained his career-night performance, holding the Raptors at bay. Halfway in the third quarter, Miles Bridges came back into the game with a string of buckets that allowed him to score thirty points. Though Brandon Miller got in as well, Dennis Schroder on the other end kept the game alive and the Hornets were unable to slow him down. At 37 points, the teams were level for the quarter. Martin had 19 points going into the fourth, two off a career high, while Bridges had 36, five off a career high. Hornets had a six-point lead.
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The Hornets’ scary lineup of Ish Smith, Bryce McGowens, Leaky Black, PJ Washington, and Nick Richards opened the fourth quarter. In almost three minutes of court time, McGowens only managed one transition layup for them, but they played solid defense to stay afloat. As soon as he arrived, Brandon Miller offered assistance by throwing in a mid-range jumper. As the starting lineup returned, the offensive deteriorated even more. For many possessions, the Hornets hardly moved the ball in the direction of the rim. There was hardly any movement at all from the ball or players.
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Although Bridges briefly regained his form and Miller made a three-pointer to restore the Hornets a lead after they had lost it, the Hornets offense was at a loss for solutions in the other areas.
THE GOOD
Miles Bridges may have played his final game for the Hornets, in which case he made sure to go on a high note. With 45 points, he eclipsed the career high he set on Monday. He played an incredibly effective game for the majority of the evening, but the shots stopped falling in the end. With seven of those, five of which came from the attacking end of the court, he was able to get back into the rebound column.
Cody Martin appeared to be well on his way to reaching a career-high point total, but he also started to fade toward the end of the game.
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Early in the game, he was aggressively seeking his shot and had a lot of confidence when he made the three-ball. In the fourth quarter, he should have taken a couple more shots, but he became a little hesitant.He finished with one of his better box score performances of the season with 19 points and eight assists.
For the sixth straight game, Brandon Miller finished with more than 20 points. Because Bridges and Martin were playing so aggressively, he didn’t have as many opportunities, but he still had his moments. A future superstar nonetheless.
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In 13 minutes of play, Nick Smith Jr. scored nine points by making three of his four 3-point tries. Compared to Ish Smith, who scored 0 points on 0 of 5 shots, he played fewer minutes.
It was a passable game for Bryce McGowens. He seems to wax and wane in confidence, and tonight we saw the confident side of him. He got a few occasions to attack the hoop and made his three-pointers without hesitation.
THE BAD
69 points were conceded by the Hornets in the second half. They looked like a generally chaotic disaster, especially in the second half, even if they didn’t commit as many flagrant mistakes that resulted in uncontested buckets as they usually do.
In the fourth quarter, the offense collapsed. A portion of that was just guys who were on fire for the majority of the game cold-shooting. But getting those shots was a poor procedure. There was hardly any ball movement at all; the Hornets only had three assists for the quarter, all of which came during a three-possession burst in the midst of the Hornets’ final push.
Big portions of the shot clock were devoted to attempting to get the ball to a specific player, leaving them with little time to prepare a backup strategy in case their iso possession proved fruitless. Generally speaking, it didn’t.
The Hornets’ lack of good iso scorers contributes to that in part. The Hornets’ constant insistence on obstructing one another was another factor in it. There was a lot of spacing, and nobody seemed to know exactly what they were meant to be doing while the person dribbling around.
It may sound repetitive, but the inability of a respectably experienced bunch of passable NBA players to play cohesively or with a sense of identity speaks volumes about the coaching staff and, to some extent, the front office.
WHAT NEXT
For the second consecutive Friday, the Hornets will travel to see the Bucks. But the roster will most likely have changed by then because we have the trade deadline on Thursday afternoon.