Those good vibes that were hovering around the Charlotte Hornets a week ago have faded, replaced by a tough stretch that has them eager to get healthy.
Injuries to four of their top rotational players left the Hornets shorthanded once again, this time against Memphis. And it was relatively clear from the opening tip the dreaded injury bug that’s bitten the Hornets badly was going to be tough to overcome. Well, that and a lackluster effort.
Falling into a double-digit hole that lasted all but the initial three minutes of the first quarter, the Hornets were pounded by the Grizzlies 130-99 at FedEx Forum on Friday night, extending their losing streak to three games.
“We have some guys who put very little into that game,” coach Steve Clifford said. “That’s not OK. You’re going to have times, but not two Fridays in a row. We were bad last Friday in Orlando and in watching that game some of it was our preparation. But not tonight. Like I told them in there. The stuff that we got hurt on early on in that game was all the stuff that we worked on this morning. Both offense and defense.”
There was no purpose from the Hornets (3-6) and that incensed Clifford. Injuries are one thing. Playing without any intensity and a true drive is another.
“When the ball’s on the floor,” he said, “and they are a step quicker every time, and they are hitting the floor and we are not, that’s not a good sign. We’re not that team — even with everybody. We’re not that talented. If we are (not) going to play with some grit, if there’s not going to be some intangibles developed throughout the group, it’s going to be hard to make the improvement that we are capable of.”
Here’s what we learned in the Hornets’ fifth defeat in their past six outings:
Grizzlies ‘O’ too much
Going up against Memphis isn’t easy with a full complement of players. Containing the Grizzlies’ offense shorthanded is a huge challenge and the Hornets had zero answers to stop them.
Memphis racked up 71 points in the first half on the strength of a 41-point first quarter, connecting on 52.9% of its shots. The Grizzlies drained 52% of their 3-pointers until finally cooling off somewhat late in the third quarter.
Dillon Brooks torched them for 18 points before halftime, finishing with 23. He was a blistering 5-for-6 behind the 3-point line during the game’s initial 24 minutes, serving as a key force to power Memphis to a commanding 24-point advantage heading into the third quarter.
Minutes for McGowens
With Gordon Hayward out nursing a left shoulder contusion that kept him sidelined for the second half of Wednesday’s loss in Chicago, the Hornets needed to tweak their roster so they had enough bodies to keep guys as fresh as possible. Bryce McGowens was recalled from Greensboro earlier in the day and logged 17 minutes, scoring 12 points and making all five free throws.
The plan was for the rookie to play for the Swarm to pick up some experience and fine tune the things he’s been doing with the Hornets’ coaching staff. However, that changed with Hayward’s injury.
Clifford is already a big fan of McGowens.
“I like his size,” he said. “I like the way he works and I like his offensive instincts. He can play off the dribble and if you look at his college shooting range numbers, they weren’t that good. He’s a much better shooter than you realize if you look at his college career.
“I think he played on a college team that maybe didn’t have maybe a lot of other offense. So people keyed on him. He’s a talented kid. He just needs to play, and like a lot of guys, get stronger and get acclimated to the NBA game. But he has a chance to be a very good player.”
Returns on the horizon?
LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Cody Martin and Hayward were each on the bench in street clothes. But that could be changing in the near future.
Clifford wasn’t quite sure if they will be able to suit up in either of the Hornets’ next two games — they host Brooklyn on Saturday and Washington on Monday — but suggested their returns could be forthcoming relatively soon since the trio has shown noticeable improvement over the last week.
“I don’t know when,” Clifford said. “They’re able to do a little bit of contact now. They’re participating in everything, really, with shootaround. They’re far, farther along than they were even three or four days ago.”
Avoiding a setback with any of them is critical and why the trio hasn’t been pushed yet. Ball and Rozier are each working their way back from sprained ankles and Martin was experiencing left quad soreness.
“It’s just a question of just making sure that they’re ready,” Clifford said. “We don’t want to go through this again. I was looking at the games missed. Melo will have already missed more games than he did all of last year. And I believe Terry played 75 last year and this will be the sixth game he’s missed.
“So both of them have missed quite a few games. And hopefully Gordon won’t be long, either. The other guys, they score so much ... (but) Cody Martin is such a big part of our team and we need him back.”
