CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It had a familiar plot.
Holding onto leads had been a huge issue for the Charlotte Hornets and directly resulted in them losing four of their first five home games leading into Wednesday’s game against Portland, and Steve Clifford’s reasoning for it was simple.
“Our problem has been we are playing without our best offensive players,” the coach said. “So Terry (Rozier) is back now and he makes a big difference. But we’ve played for the most part … when you get down to the last five, six minutes of an NBA game that’s who you want to have, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard. That’s how you get two to the ball. And having Terry helps a lot, especially when he gets back in rhythm. But that’s the tough part — when you lose your primary scorers.”
