Double trouble. Three takeaways after Hornets’ loss to Phoenix Suns extends frustrating streak

Throwing a bouquet in the Charlotte Hornets’ direction, Phoenix Suns coach Frank Vogel wasn’t about to look past the team entering Footprint Center like a wounded animal.

“Obviously they are shorthanded, but Terry (Rozier) is playing great basketball,” Vogel said, surely giddy about the return of Suns guard Bradley Beal following a five-game absence with an ankle injury. “I like their young players. They are playing extremely hard. Coach (Steve Clifford) always gets them to honor the game the right way.

“They all box out, they all get back on defense, they all trust the pass and they play the game the right way. And it’s the NBA. They have enough talent to come in and beat us tonight if we’re not at our best.”

These are the banged-up Hornets, though, and they must play nearly flawlessly just to have a legit chance without the services of LaMelo Ball, Mark Williams and Gordon Hayward. And once again that turned out to be anything but the case in a 133-119 defeat to Phoenix that pushed the Hornets’ losing streak to 10 games — the longest since 2014-15 when they dropped that many.

Clifford, now in his second stint with the franchise, was also the coach back then. So, he has experience with situations like this and isn’t panicking even though their aspirations have been torn apart through the season’s initial two months.

“We’ve done a good job with effort — that’s the players,” Clifford said. “We have a good locker room. Those guys want to win. I think they understand we get guys back, we’ll have a chance. We’ve got to find a way. We’ve got to get one of these so we can have a positive vibe. But they have a great attitude about it.”

Here are three takeaways after the Hornets (7-23) couldn’t stop their skid:

Off the Mark without Williams

That’s 10 missed games in a row for Williams and his aching back is proving to be a problem in other ways: the center’s unavailability is weakening an already porous defense.

During two of the first three games of this road trip, the Hornets were pounded close to the rim. Only the LA Clippers didn’t get the best of Charlotte on the interior. Phoenix’s Jusuf Nurkić bullied them inside, leading the Suns’ advantage in points in the paint.

That came on the heels of the Los Angeles Lakers torching the Hornets from close range for nearly half (62) of the overall 133 points they put up. Williams’ presence won’t be a panacea, but it’s obvious the Hornets need a second-year big man to help plug some of the leaks that keep cropping up.

Miles Bridges’ offensive funk

Remember when Miles Bridges came out of the gates on fire, playing unlike someone who had missed an entire season? Well, he’s cooled off considerably.

Bridges has connected on 50% or better of his shots zero times and his past eight games after going 4-for-16 against the Suns, including a 1 of 7 mark beyond the 3-point arc. Bridges’ last occasion canning at least half of his attempts came against Miami on Dec. 11.

Perhaps he’s hitting a bit of a wall and the career-high 36.2 minutes per game he’s averaging — a partial byproduct of all Hornets’ injuries woes — are taxing him more than anticipated. But there had to be an expected downturn at some point, because even with all the offseason work Bridges put in while waiting to officially return Nov. 17, remaining at an elite level nightly against the world’s best in the sports is a difficult proposition.

Terry Rozier finds rhythm

After a few hiccups that followed sitting out last Saturday night’s loss against Denver nursing knee soreness, Rozier rediscovered his rhythm and put the Hornets on his back offensively against Phoenix.

In posting his fifth career game of 40 points or more and combining with Brandon Miller to mark the seventh time in franchise history two players made at least six 3-pointers each in a game, Rozier looked more like the guy who’s taken the team’s leading scorer reins since Ball’s injury. If his output against the Suns is any indicator, it appears he has broken out of his offensive doldrums.

And for a team that doesn’t have much going for it at the moment, his performance in Phoenix was a boost. Imagine how bad things could have been if he didn’t fill it up?