TORONTO — Deemed still not ready for prime time after TNT pulled the team’s only nationally televised appearance of the season, the Charlotte Hornets turned their attention to the next best thing.
Since they’re not going to be in the postseason barring an unprecedented and miraculous run, and their initial nationwide broadcast set for next week yanked, the Hornets’ date with Toronto on Thursday night presented the closest opportunity they’ll get to tasting a playoff berth. A two-game set in three days against the Raptors was supposed to provide a different perspective.
“I think it’s a lot better for a lot of reasons,” coach Steve Clifford said, “but the biggest one would be with the way we travel now and where you don’t play as many back-to-backs. So, a four-game trip like this, instead of being four flights, four 1:30 am landings, you get to be here for a couple of days. Where we don’t get two days off as much as we used to, I think it makes a big difference for everybody just rest-wise.”
Not hefty enough for the Hornets, though, apparently.
Too many head-scratching mistakes and another atrocious defensive effort led to a 124-114 defeat to Toronto at Scotiabank Arena, sending the Hornets home on a three-game losing streak that left their spirited historical win over Milwaukee to begin the trek a distant memory.
And it’s not about to get any easier for the Hornets. They welcome Boston to town for a two-game series beginning on Saturday, matching the Eastern Conference’s top team against the one featuring the worst record.
Here are some key takeaways from the Hornets’ 18th loss in their past 25 outings even with LaMelo Ball scoring a season-high 32 points:
Pounded in the paint
It’s a surprise the rims the Raptors shot at didn’t bend. Toronto hung on them all night.
Containing the Raptors inside was a maddening proposition for the Hornets, and Toronto wasn’t the least bit afraid to take it to the Hornets on the interior. Clifford’s crew yielded a 62-50 edge in points in the paint, with 45 of the Raptors’ initial 71 shots coming on the interior. In fact, more than half of Toronto’s 83 shots were in the paint.
It was an even 50.
Allowing Toronto to feast near the bucket with a 62% showing was too much to overcome and something they can’t do with a slim margin of error that feels even more minuscule with Gordon Hayward continuing to be sidelined while working back from a sore left hamstring.
Up and down PJ
PJ Washington still can’t get into a complete sustained rhythm.
The fourth-year big man has topped 20 points in consecutive games on just four occasions this season, with the latest coming in the first two games of the Hornets’ road trip. But he tailed off in the pair of contests against Toronto, combining for just 24 points and getting outplayed by Toronto’s O.G. Anunoby.
“I think for me, it’s not so much about points — it’s (the) all-around game,” Washington said. “I’ve got to be better in all aspects and not just points. So, yeah it would be good to score 25 a night, but I’ve got to rebound, I’ve got to defend, I’ve got to do all that. Everything else, it just makes it more consistent if I do that.”
When Washington is on and aggressive, the Hornets are a tough out because his ability to hit from outside forces his defender away from the basket, potentially opening up things for others like Ball. But on those nights he’s off and not attacking with a purpose, the Hornets don’t typically fare as well.
Undoubtedly, Washington is a key cog for the Hornets. They go as he goes. In their last three wins, he hasn’t registered less than 21 points.
“That’s just basketball,” Washington said. “You’ve got to play well to win. Some games you don’t, some games you do. But when you do, you’ve got to try to be consistent and work every day, and try to be consistent with the guys to get some wins.”
Nick Richards sighting
For all the talk about needing to play better on the interior after getting hammered on the boards two nights earlier, the Hornets didn’t exactly put the clamps down defensively.
Obviously not pleased with the lack of physicality again, Clifford went to Nick Richards at backup center for the first time in weeks, sidestepping rookie Mark Williams. It was Richards’ first real meaningful minutes since going down in Los Angeles against the Lakers on Dec. 23 after spraining his right ankle.
Although Richards missed only two games with the injury, he didn’t unseat Williams initially because Clifford thought the Hornets’ 2022 first-round pick deserved some playing time.
But with them struggling mightily to stop Toronto, he elected to switch things up and Richards wasn’t shy with his fouls, collecting three of his five in the first half alone.
