TORONTO — J. Cole was in the building, perhaps eager for an up-close view of the Charlotte Hornets officially tipping off the second half of their season.
The hip hop star and Fayetteville native surely was hoping to see the Hornets begin turning a frustrating season around before it’s too late. Instead, it was more of the same.
A 132-120 loss to Toronto at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday night felt eerily similar to the types of defeats the Hornets have stockpiled this season.
Sure, there were positives, like the 22 assists they stockpiled on 27 made field goals in the first two quarters, matching their season high for a half. And Terry Rozier fueling the offense with 33 points. And LaMelo Ball posting a double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
But the Hornets couldn’t put it all together at once and had troubles in the fourth quarter, a constant theme during a lost season.
Here are some key takeaways from the Hornets’ sixth loss in their last eight games:
Defensive breakdowns
It felt like a scramble drill defensively for the Hornets.
Far too often they were late getting out to the 3-point line, giving Toronto wide-open looks at the bucket. Luckily for the Hornets, the Raptors cooled off from deep or things might’ve been worse. Still, Toronto took full advantage of the Hornets’ defensive lapses, draining 45.5% from 3-point range.
That number actually dipped after Toronto knocked down half of its 20 attempts beyond the arc through the first two quarters, an indicator of just how rough things were for the Hornets defensively early on.
Getting outworked
Allowing the Raptors to feast on seconds doomed the Hornets.
Toronto outworked them on the glass and capitalized on their nine offensive rebounds, with seven coming in the first half. Those extra possessions were the difference and kept the Raptors at arm’s length for most of the night, forcing the Hornets to play catch-up for the better part of three quarters.
A 20-4 edge in second-chance points, which improved in the Hornets’ favor slightly during the second half after Toronto boasted an early 13-2 advantage, showed the Raptors wanted it more at times.
The LaMelo-DSJ tandem
Nagging injuries to LaMelo Ball and Dennis Smith Jr. prevented the two from pairing up in the Hornets’ backcourt until earlier this month. They hadn’t even been in the same tandem in practice.
But with both finally healthy, they’re slowly being paired together and were the Hornets’ backcourt duo on the floor against Toronto more than once. Coach Steve Clifford even briefly subbed Smith in for Terry Rozier at the tail end of the second quarter for defensive purposes.
Ball and Smith make an intriguing combination given Smith’s prowess and bulldog mentality. Prior to their outing against the Raptors, the duo had teamed up in just four games for a total of 28 minutes. Expect to see the pairing more moving forward.
“Well, I think they can play together because Dennis would be small for an off guard, but Melo is big as a point guard and Dennis can guard off guards,” Clifford said. “So, for instance, when you get into a playoff series, for me, when people say what position can a guy play, it’s who can they can guard? I mean, unless they are the best offensive player.
“So if they want to say this guy can play multiple positions, well in playoff series where you go on matchups, you can play every position that you can guard. And Dennis can for sure guard off guards and point guards.”
