Charlotte Hornets wrapup: Wednesday night’s game at Memphis Grizzlies

By Richard Walker

Notes and observations from Wednesday’s 130-114 Hornets’ road loss to the Memphis Grizzlies that dropped Charlotte to 12-14 overall:

… Charlotte’s two-game winning streak and a chance to get to .500 came crashing down as the Grizzlies hit a franchise-record 23 3-pointers for a blowout victory after the Hornets had led by 10 points twice in the first quarter. “We’ve been a really good second half defensive team this year,” said Charlotte coach James Borrego, whose team yielded 60 points in the second half. “Tonight we were not.”

… The loss wasted a 54.9 percent overall shooting effort which included 14 of 29 converted 3-pointers and a 34-point effort from Terry Rozier. “I think we gave great effort at the beginning of the game,” Rozier said. (But) “they just played harder than us so they deserved to win. I think we’ve got to do a better job.”

… Rookie LaMelo Ball had 17 points, two rebounds and five assists in 28 minutes but didn’t play in the fourth quarter. “I was just game flow,” Borrego said of the decision. “He’s played a lot of minutes lately.”

… Memphis (10-10) had seven double figure scorers, led by Kyle Anderson (27 points), Dillon Brooks (20), Desmond Bane (18) and Grayson Allen (18). Reigning NBA rookie of the year Ja Morant had 15 points, three rebounds and 11 assists.

… Charlotte was done in by 19 turnovers and yielding 19 offensive rebounds that led to 25 second-chance points for Memphis.

… The Grizzlies had now swept Charlotte in back-to-back seasons; Memphis won 108-93 at Charlotte on Jan. 1 in the teams’ first meeting of the season.

… The Hornets are in the process of closing out the first half of their schedule with 13 of their last 15 games against teams from the Western Conference. That started with last Friday’s home loss to the Utah Jazz. Charlotte is now 3-5 this season against the West and is 20-43 against that conference in the last three seasons.

What’s next: Charlotte hosts Minnesota on Friday at 7 p.m.