Charlotte Hornets give up a slew of 3-pointers, fall to 76ers in Philadelphia
The Charlotte Hornets had lost 11 games in a row to the Philadelphia 76ers. Absolutely nothing changed Saturday.
The Sixers’ size advantage, combined with some terrific 3-point shooting, helped them build a 10-point lead almost immediately, which Philadelphia rode to a 127-112 victory.
Hornets guard Terry Rozier had another spectacular scoring game, with 35 points. But the Sixers’ 12-of-22 shooting from 3 built a 15-point halftime lead that held up.
The Hornets lost their second in a row, falling to 2-4. They play the 76ers again Monday in Philadelphia. Ben Simmons had a triple-double for the Sixers with 13 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds.
Five observations:
No change, for now
Before the game, coach James Borrego said he thought it was too soon to shake up the starting lineup after five games. That despite rookie LaMelo Ball playing so well off the bench, and starter Devonte Graham shooting 27% and averaging 9.8 points — about half what he did last season.
“We’ve just got to stay the course right now. Continue to get better, not overreact,” Borrego said Saturday pregame, after saying Friday night he’d think about starting Ball.
The first-half results continued the trend: Graham missed all seven of his shots and went scoreless. Ball, playing 15 minutes off the bench, totaled 11 points, three assists two blocks and two steals.
Trim rotation to nine
While Borrego didn’t switch any starters, he did trim back his rotation. After playing 10 regularly (high for an NBA rotation), Borrego went with nine players in the first three quarters.
Cody Martin, who Borrego has called the Hornets’ best “pound-for-pound defender,” was the player who didn’t play, after averaging nearly 16 minutes in the first five games.
Interior defense
The 76ers’ exceptional first-half shooting from 3 was in part an effect of the Hornets’ ineffectual interior defense. Between having to send frequent double-teams at Sixers center Joel Embiid and not cutting off dribble-drives, the Hornets allowed the ball to get into the lane with such ease that Philadelphia set up shooters Seth Curry and Danny Green with wide-open looks.
Curry, Green and power forward Tobias Harris combined to shoot 8 of 12 from 3-point range in the first half.
Rozier’s scoring
Rozier scored 18 points in 19 first-half minutes to a large degree with aggressive drives to the rim.
Rozier started the season with a career-high 42 points in Cleveland. He bounced back Saturday from a 1-of-11 shooting game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.
Center depth
With Cody Zeller (fractured hand) out several more weeks, Borrego is going with Bismack Biyombo and P.J. Washington at center, so far not using either of rookie big men Vernon Carey or Nick Richards in significant minutes.
Biyombo has played well, and the 6-foot-7 Washington can play bigger than his height at center. However, there just aren’t enough centers with experience, particularly when facing back-to-back games against a player of Embiid’s size.
The Hornets have an open roster spot and about $5 million available under the salary cap. So far, general manager Mitch Kupchak hasn’t chosen to bring in a veteran big man.
