Three takeaways after the Charlotte Hornets’ tough loss against the LA Clippers

Acknowledging the Charlotte Hornets’ situation while embarking on a six-game excursion stretching across three time zones, Steve Clifford succinctly described what they are up against over the course of the 11-day voyage.

“We’re playing really good teams on this trip,” the coach said, “and we’re going to have to put 48 minutes together.”

And once again, try to accomplish the feat short-handed.

There was no such luck in the opening act, though, and Gordon Hayward exiting in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s 113-104 loss to the LA Clippers at Crypto.com Arena definitely didn’t help matters. Already banged up without LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Mark Williams, the Hornets’ nonstop injury train added another passenger thanks to Hayward’s left calf strain, leaving the veteran unavailable while Charlotte coughed up a rare fourth-quarter lead.

“They brought James Harden back in the game,” Clifford said. “He was the best player in the game. When he was out, we took good advantage of it. When he came back in, we just couldn’t guard him. We tried everything we could do. Basically, he crushed every part of it.

“So, he was out, we were in good shape. He came back in, the game changed.”

In other words, just a typical night for the Hornets (7-21) in season spiraling in the wrong direction.

“I think we had a lot of mistakes at the end of the fourth quarter that led to our loss obviously,” PJ Washington said. “But for the most part we played a great game. … So, obviously we got a lot to work on, but we did a better job than before.”

Here are three things we learned about Charlotte after its eighth straight loss:

Time to curtail the hack attack

Fouling remains a two-fold issue.

Not only are the Hornets failing to draw enough of them offensively, they are committing far too many defensively. For a team that ranks 25th in the NBA in the percentage of its points it scores from free throws (14.4), sending the Clippers to the free-throw line nine more times was a killer.

The 23 fouls the Hornets compiled compared to the 14 the Clippers were whistled for is something that can’t continuously happen if they are going to have a legitimate chance to pull out victories despite all the injury woes. The reserves, in particular, can’t pick up any cheap ones.

“To be honest, PJ getting his second in the first half hurt us because he was great,” Clifford said. “From the time he stepped in the game he had great energy and made a big difference. And then it limited his minutes.”

Mark Williams increasing activity

Don’t think the Hornets miss their starting center?

In his short tenure as the main big man tossed out with the game’s opening unit, Williams is showing he can indeed be that positional piece the organization has sought for years. Sure, he has plenty of things to still polish off in his repertoire, and finishing more through contact instead of succumbing and getting his shot blocked is near the top of the list.

But there’s no denying how much his presence means. It goes beyond the 12.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists he’s posting per outing.

Williams simply being in the lineup pushes Nick Richards, who has performed well on occasion in his place, into his usual reserve role and allows Richards to better hold his own against the opposition’s backup center.

“If you look at just our numbers, we haven’t won a game since Mark went out,” Clifford said. “What it does is it just challenges the depth of your roster. When you lose guys that are critical to your team, it’s hard to do.”

Williams’ hasn’t played in more than two weeks. So where do things stand with him?

“He did more (Tuesday at morning shootaround) than he’s done for a while,” Clifford said. “But I don’t think we have a definitive timetable.”

LaMelo Ball timeline still uncertain

Although Ball is clearly making progress and on the right track to return perhaps sooner than initially anticipated, the Hornets’ star point guard remains a fixture on the bench in street clothes instead of a uniform.

And it’s still uncertain when that will change.

“Yeah, I don’t know what his timetable is, but he’s back on the court now, at the very beginning,” Clifford said. “He’s working hard with his treatment and his rehab and everything, and I think he feels a lot better. But I really don’t know how close we are.”

Ball’s unique talents are impossible to duplicate and the Hornets just don’t have enough firepower to hang with the NBA’s best teams nightly. Even when Ball is healthy, Charlotte has a razor-thin margin of error. Without him, the Hornets really don’t put much of a scare into opponents given their offense began the trip ranked 26th in the league at 110.6 points per game.

While there’s always a possibility they’ll break through on occasion, like they did against the Clippers, sustaining it for four nearly perfect quarters is a difficult proposition.