Hornets Highlights vs. Nets – 12/07/22
Rozier, Oubre Connect for Rare Feat; Late Controversial Foul Call Proves Pivotal
When facing a team that has a superstar duo like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, it’s imperative to bring your ‘A’ game for a full 48 minutes. The Charlotte Hornets certainly had their ‘A’ game rolling in the second half on Wednesday night, but a rough start was ultimately too much to overcome in a 122-116 road loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
Charlotte got another pair of huge performances from its starting backcourt, with Terry Rozier totaling a season-high 29 points and eight assists, while Kelly Oubre Jr. had 28 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Both players have now scored 20-or-more points in each of their last six games, marking the first time a Charlotte duo has concurrently pulled off this feat since Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson did so in 2008.
A 23-7 run overlapping the first and second quarters paved the way for a 73-55 halftime lead for Brooklyn, marking the second-most first-half points allowed by the Hornets this season. Charlotte’s energy picked up from there though and after trailing by 23 late in the second quarter, a 35-19 stretch eventually got the team to within one with 3:23 left in the game.
Both sides kept trading buckets, but it was a defensive foul by Charlotte with 44 seconds remaining that might have been the difference. With Brooklyn ahead by two, Irving got a favorable whistle on a flailing mid-range jumper, despite Rozier appearing to make very little, if any contact on the attempt. Charlotte’s challenge was unsuccessful, Irving hit both freebies and following a scoreless Hornets’ possession, sank a late floater to seal the deal.
“We played a poor first half, we played a really good second half,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards. “We gave ourselves a chance to win. The breaks didn’t go our way there that last minute. The challenge to me [on the Irving drawn foul], I am surprised they came back so quickly with an unsuccessful challenge call. When you watch it, it doesn’t really look from the angles that we have that there was any contact at all. That call is the biggest play of the game. We would have had the ball, down two.”
Jalen McDaniels racked up 19 points, Mason Plumlee double-doubled with 13 points, 11 rebounds and five assists and PJ Washington finished with 12 points and a career-high-tying seven assists, although exited the game for good in the fourth quarter following a right eye injury. Irving led the Nets with 33 points, nine assists and four blocks, while Durant nearly triple-doubled with 29 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Starting slow, eventually finding a rhythm and then not being able to finish the job has been an all-too-familiar tune for the Hornets this season. While this one could have gone either way at the end, Charlotte gave herself very little breathing room over the final two quarters after surrendering such a sizeable first-half point total.
“Containing the ball individually and then our pick-and-roll defense was something we really struggled with,” said Clifford, when asked about the team’s first-half defense. “They didn’t just score in the paint – they got open threes. In the second half, we were much better.” Added Rozier, “We weren’t doing anything that we talked about this morning. They were getting too easy of looks, coming down in the middle of the paint on our defense and it created all kinds of advantages from themselves. We limited that in the second half and played better.”
The Hornets will now return home to face the New York Knicks on Friday, Dec. 9 beginning at 7 PM ET at Spectrum Center. Catch all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WNFZ FM 92.7