Charlotte Hornets, down to eight players, wear out in loss to San Antonio Spurs
Injuries and illness beat the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday as much as the San Antonio Spurs.
With three starters out by the second half, and the available players down to eight, the Hornets wore out in the fourth quarter of a 122-110 loss at Spectrum Center.
Among starters, Gordon Hayward and P.J. Washington both were ruled out before the game. Then, Devonte Graham suffered a knee injury that caused him to miss most of the second half.
Terry Rozier led the Hornets with 33 points, his third consecutive game of 30 or more. Malik Monk added 23 off the bench. Guards Dejounte Murray (26 points) and Derrick White (25) led the Spurs.
The Hornets fell to 13-15, while the Spurs improved to 16-11.
Observations off this game:
Devonte Graham injury
The already shorthanded Hornets lost Graham with a left knee patella injury diagnosed early in the second half.
The Hornets entered this game with just nine available players. Graham’s injury put greater emphasis on Monk’s play off the bench.
Terry Rozier freezes the defense
Rozier has had an exceptional stretch of games that continued with 18 first-half points Sunday. The capper to his good work was a move off the dribble where he came to a sudden stop, stepped backward freezing San Antonio’s defense, then drove to the rim without a defender being anywhere near him when he made the layup.
It was reminiscent of some of the stop-and-start dribble moves Kemba Walker made as a Hornet.
Gordon Hayward’s sore back
The Hornets lost their leading scorer when small forward Gordon Hayward was ruled out with lower-back discomfort. It was the second game Hayward has missed in his first Charlotte season. A hip injury caused him to sit out a game against the Toronto Raptors in January.
The Hornets say Hayward is day-to-day. With him out, coach James Borrego started his three top guards — Graham, Rozier and rookie LaMelo Ball — together for the third game this season. Those three have been quite effective together: In 93 minutes heading into Sunday’s game, the Hornets outscored opponents by nearly 22 points per 100 possessions.
Started with nine available players
Between COVID-19 related protocols and Hayward’s injury, the Hornets were down to nine available players Sunday.
P.J. Washington and Caleb and Cody Martin all missed the game under “health and safety,” which is the NBA’s term for COVID-19 situations. The Hornets haven’t specified whether any of those players tested positive, or if these are contact-tracing issues.
The Hornets’ bench consisted of guard Monk, center Bismack Biyombo, forward Jalen McDaniels — just back from the G-League bubble — and rookie big man Nick Richards.
Spurs’ explosive second quarter
San Antonio scored 47 points in the second quarter, the most the Hornets have given up in any quarter this season. The previous high was 41 by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the season opener.
The Spurs shot 20 of 26 from the field in that quarter, with Murray scoring 18 of his points.
