104
94(OT)
One day after the Carolina Panthers clinched the NFC South title, many were hoping that the Charlotte Hornets would continue to give Charlotte something to cheer about in last night's match-up against the Milwaukee Bucks at Time Warner Cable Arena. After being down for almost the entire game, Charlotte would make a strong comeback, but in the end, Milwaukee had the last laugh, as they escaped out of Charlotte with a 104-94 win in overtime. With the loss, the Hornets are now 10-22 on the season.
What did the Hornets in was their field goal percentage, shooting a dismal 36.7% from the field, a main concern for a team that's missing Lance Stephenson still with a pelvic injury. That allowed the Bucks to jump out to a lead of 21 points, which also doomed the Hornets as well in the loss.
Milwaukee was led by Brandon Knight with 18 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field, while the Hornets in the loss were led by Kemba Walker and his 28 points.
Charlotte will have 2 tough games that won't be no easy walk in the park, with the first of them starting tomorrow night on New Year's Eve in Houston against Dwight Howard, James Harden, and the Houston Rockets for a 7:00 p.m. start at the Toyota Center.
108
101
The Charlotte Hornets have been starting to find a formula in their last few games - sticking with the game plan and adding in some defensive pressure in the process. That and the solid play of Kemba Walker has all contributed to Charlotte notching it's 4th straight win last night in Milwaukee, defeating the Bucks 108-101 to go to 10-19 on the season.
Despite being outsmarted in the transition game, Hornets head coach Steve Clifford was pleased to see his defense step it up in the fourth quarter, an area that the team has struggled a few times with this season. "They beat us in transition, but in the fourth quarter, when they needed to be, our defense was good." Clifford said.
Walker did lead the Hornets in scoring with 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field to lead the Hornets group of double-figure scorers in last night's win. Joining him was Gerald Henderson, who was 6-of-10 from the field to end up with 20 points, while Marvin Williams and Al Jefferson each had 12, with P.J. Hairston and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist each adding in 10 points. Charlotte managed to out-shoot the Bucks from the free-throw line with a 77.8% average from that area, while they out-rebounded the Bucks by a plus-3 margin(43-40).
Milwaukee, who was coming off a four-game West Coast road swing, was led in scoring by Brandon Knight with a game-high 34 points to lead the Bucks, while he was joined by Khris Middleton with 12 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo would finish up with 11 points and rounding out the list of double-figure scorers for the Bucks was Jared Dudley with 10 on the night.
The Charlotte Hornets will enjoy the next 2 days off for Christmas before they jump back into action on Friday night in Oklahoma City against Russell Westbrook and the Thunder for a 8:00 p.m. start at Chesapeake Energy Arena, before they return home to Time Warner Cable Arena on Saturday to square off against the Orlando Magic.
