111
106
The Charlotte Bobcats have been struggling to close out games big time as always this season, and in Wednesday's game at Time Warner Cable Arena, the Hornets had the game in hand, but the Phoenix Suns would come all the way back to hand Charlotte their 4th straight loss 111-106. The Hornets are now 6-19 on the season with the loss on Wednesday night.
In the comeback win for the Suns, they were led by Isaiah Thomas Jr., who had 23 points off the bench for Phoenix, while Goran Dragic made his return to the lineup and helped his team out in the cause with 20 points. They were also joined by Gerald Green and his 16 point performance, with Eric Bledsoe adding in 15 on the night. Not to be outdone for Phoenix, which snapped it's 6-game losing streak, were Markieff Morris with 13 and rounding out the long list of double-figure scorers for the Suns was Alex Len with 10 points.
The Hornets were led in Wednesday night's loss by Al Jefferson, who had 28 points to go with 10 rebounds. Charlotte is on the road tonight in Philadelphia as they take on the 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center.
Phoenix Suns(12-14) vs. Charlotte Hornets(6-18)
Time Warner Cable Arena
Wednesday, 7:00 p.m.
Television: SportSouth
Radio: WFNZ-AM(610 The Fan)
Last Meeting: Charlotte 103, Phoenix 95(November 14th at Phoenix)
Series history(since original Hornets first season in 1988-89): PHX leads series 31-18
The Charlotte Hornets are in a midst of a 3-game losing streak, as they look to get back on course tonight at "The Hive" as they battle the Phoenix Suns, who are on a 6-game losing streak. Charlotte is coming off a rough outing at the hands of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers back on Monday night in Cleveland, while Phoenix on the other side of the story is coming off a crazy game of their own back on Monday as well, losing a heartbreaker to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Scouting the Suns
Things haven't gone the way it would all plan for the Phoenix Suns recently, as they are on a 6-game losing streak coming into tonight's game on the road in Charlotte. Their most recent defeat came in a thrilling finish back on Monday on their home floor of Talking Stick Resort Arena, when Khris Middleton's buzzer beater gave the Milwaukee Bucks a 96-94 win over the Suns. Phoenix is desperately looking to end their 6-game losing streak, while looking for some payback from their loss to the Hornets on November 14th at home, as they pay a visit to Charlotte to take on a Hornets team that's on a losing streak of their own coming into tonight.
Scouting the Hornets
Unlike Phoenix, the Charlotte Hornets are on a three-game losing streak, with their most recent loss coming on Monday in Cleveland to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Of course, most of the rumors surrounding the team is the possibility of trading Lance Stephenson, who has somewhat struggled to find his way in a Hornets uniform this season. Charlotte looks to end its 3-game skid tonight, in this inter-conference match-up against the Phoenix Suns at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Next 4 games for the Hornets(Home games in Purple, Road games in Teal)
Friday: Charlotte @ Philadelphia 76ers(7:00 p.m.)
Saturday: Utah Jazz vs. Charlotte(7:00 p.m.)
Monday: Denver Nuggets vs. Charlotte(7:00 p.m.)
Tuesday: Charlotte @ Milwaukee Bucks(8:00 p.m.)
NOTES: All SportSouth telecasts begin with "Hornets Live" 30 minutes before tip-off; All Hornets games can be heard locally on flagship station WFNZ-AM(610 The Fan) and throughout the Carolinas on the Hornets Radio Network.
103
95
In the first few road games this season for the Charlotte Hornets, their main concern was finishing up at the end, and in last night's game at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, the Hornets did just that, as they came from behind and defeated the Suns 103-95 to notch their first road win of the 2014-15 campaign, while improving to 4-5 overall, while the Suns brief 2-game losing streak came to a halt, as they fall to 5-4.
"We finished it in the end. We had chances in New York, obviously we're ahead in L.A. at the half, ahead with seven minutes left in Portland, but tonight we did a good job of finishing up at the end." said Hornets head coach Steve Clifford.
Leading the way for the Hornets in last night's win was Kemba Walker, who was nothing short of remarkable in the win for Charlotte, as he scored 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, while Gary Neal and Al Jefferson each added in 14 to the cause. Lance Stephenson again reached double figures for Charlotte with 13 points, and the biggest surprise in the win for the Hornets was Bismack Biyombo coming out of Nowhere to notch his first double-double since November 1, 2013 against Cleveland, scoring 11 points to go with 10 rebounds off the bench for the Hornets. As a team, Charlotte finished the night shooting 42.9% from the field, despite Phoenix's 43% in the field goal percentage department, but the Hornets did out-rebound the Suns by a 45-46 margin, and out-shot the Suns from three-point range(43.8%).
Phoenix was led in the loss by Eric Bledsoe with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting to go along with his 11 rebounds.
The Hornets hope to break even on their 4-game West Coast road trip in the finale tonight in Oakland as they square off against Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena for a 10:30 p.m. start, before Charlotte returns home to Time Warner Cable Arena on Monday to face Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off at "The Hive".
Charlotte Hornets(3-5) vs. Phoenix Suns(5-3)
US Airways Center, Phoenix
Friday, 9:00 p.m.
Television: SportSouth
Radio: WFNZ-AM(610 The Fan)
Series history(since original Hornets first season in 1988-89): PHX leads series 31-17
The Charlotte Hornets are 0-2 on their West Coast road trip, with losses coming to the L.A. Lakers on Sunday and a close, but yet heartbreaking loss on Tuesday at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers. The Hornets hope to get on the board on their trip on Friday as they take on the Phoenix Suns in Phoenix.
Scouting the Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets nearly sent Tuesday's game in Portland against the Trail Blazers into overtime, but Gary Neal's shot came too late after the buzzer as Portland stole one from the Hornets 102-100 on Tuesday, dropping Charlotte to 3-5 on the season and 0-2 on the West Coast trip. Charlotte will have 2 more tough challenges on the trip, which is a back-to-back set starting on Friday in Phoenix against the Suns, before heading to Oakland on Saturday to take on Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors to wrap up the road trek, before returning home to "The Hive" on Monday to take on Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks, as the Hornets will begin a stretch of playing 8 of their next 11 games at Time Warner Cable Arena until December 12th.
Scouting the Suns
The Phoenix Suns are 5-3 on the season, and that is something that second year coach Jeff Hornacek wanted to see in their first 8 games of the season, and they got their 5th win of the year thanks to a 112-104 win over the Brooklyn Nets. The Suns hope to get their third straight win tomorrow night, as they welcome in the 3-5 Charlotte Hornets to the US Airways Center, as Phoenix wraps up their 5-game homestand before hitting the road for a date with the Clippers in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Next 4 games for the Hornets(Home games in Purple, Road games in Teal)
Saturday: Charlotte @ Golden State Warriors(10:30 p.m.)
Monday: Dallas Mavericks vs. Charlotte(7:00 p.m.)
Wednesday: Charlotte @ Indiana Pacers(7:00 p.m.)
Next Friday: Orlando Magic vs. Charlotte*(7:00 p.m.)
*-Southeast Division game
NOTES: All SportSouth telecasts begin with "Hornets Live" 30 minutes before tip-off; All Hornets games can be heard locally on flagship station WFNZ-AM(610 The Fan) and throughout the Carolinas on the Hornets Radio Network.
Today's edition of our "30 Teams in 30 Days" 2014-15 NBA season preview takes us to the "Valley of the Sun", where we'll talk about the Phoenix Suns, and their approach to getting back on the winning track this season.
Last season's record: 48-34(3rd in Pacific Division/9th in Western Conference)
Head Coach: Jeff Hornacek(2nd season, 48-34 overall)
Arena: US Airways Center(18,422)
Website: suns.com
Despite not making the playoffs, it was a good learning experience for Jeff Hornacek in his first season as head coach of the Phoenix Suns last season, and what a season it was, finishing with a 48-34 mark, with some good playing from Goran Dragic, leading the way with a 20.3 points per game average in 76 starts for Phoenix, while Eric Bledsoe had a good showing with the Suns with 17.7 points per game, and the franchise rewarded him with a 5-year extension after a great year last year for a Suns team that almost crashed the post-season party.
This season, Phoenix is well determined to make last season's missed trip to the playoffs a different outcome, as the team is hungry and ready for a solid, but yet tough run in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, but don't expect things to fall off the table for the Suns this season, because they know how to make a lot of noise in Phoenix this upcoming season.
Upcoming team previews in the "30 Teams in 30 Days" series:
- Friday: Los Angeles Clippers
- Saturday: Los Angeles Lakers
- Sunday: Golden State Warriors
- Monday: Sacramento Kings
- Tuesday: Portland Trail Blazers
- Wednesday: Minnesota Timberwolves
- Next Thursday: Memphis Grizzlies
