87
94
After a rough first half, which led to head coach Steve Clifford calling out his team, the Charlotte Hornets would come out firing and unleashing their frustrations from that first half, and turning it into paydirt, coming away with a 94-87 win over the Washington Wizards last night at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Hornets are now 22-27 on the season and holding on to the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference, while the Wizards dropped to 31-20.
The star of the night for Charlotte was Gerald Henderson, who would spark the Hornets run, which was a 14-4 run to end the game. "We weren't in our spots, we weren't helping each other, and we didn't have any energy." said Henderson, who finished with 27 points to lead the way for the Hornets in the win. "In the second half, we came out with more than that."
Last night's win marked the fifth straight time Charlotte has defeated Washington, and they also got a little bit of help from Jason Maxiell, who came out of nowhere with 7 blocked shots to go with 11 points off the bench for the Hornets. Also with 11 points each on the night for Charlotte were Lance Stephenson and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, while Brian Roberts continued to do well stepping in the place of Kemba Walker had 12 points for Charlotte in the win. The Hornets finished with a 43.4% field goal percentage on the night, while dominating the rebounding battle by a plus-13 margin(50-37).
Washington had a rough go of it, as head coach Randy Wittman wasn't pleased with his team's effort in the second half. "For whatever reason, we take it upon ourselves to say, 'This is a time for me.'" Wittman quoted. Paul Pierce led the way for the Wizards with 19 points, while John Wall would add in 15. The Hornets next game will come on Saturday night in Philadelphia, as they take on the 76ers at 7:30 p.m. inside the Wells Fargo Center, while their next home game will come on Sunday as they take on the Indiana Pacers for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off at "The Hive".
Our "30 Teams in 30 Days" series of previewing all 30 NBA teams continues as we make the trek across NYC into Brooklyn, where we will take a look at a Brooklyn Nets team that is hoping that last year's playoff appearance can mark the start of a exciting time for the team entering the 2014-15 season.
Last season's record: 44-38(2nd in Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference; Def. TOR 4-3 in Eastern Conference First Round; Lost to MIA 4-1 in Eastern Conference Semi-finals)
Head Coach: Lionel Hollins(7th season, 214-201 overall, 1st season as BKN head coach)
Arena: Barclays Center(17,732)
Website: BrooklynNets.com
The 2013-14 season for the Brooklyn Nets was somewhat surprising for a team that has been trying to find it's identity since moving from their long-time home in New Jersey to Brooklyn back in 2012, and it was a good thing that the 2013-14 campaign turned out to be a good one for Brooklyn, as Jason Kidd would take over as it's head coach in the season, and behind the strong play of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, who signed with them last off-season after spending the bulk of their careers in Boston, Brooklyn notched a successful winning campaign with a 44-38 mark, and preserving the second overall seed in the 2014 Eastern Conference Playoffs.
The first-round series between Brooklyn and the Toronto Raptors turned out to be a battle royale, as Brooklyn would take Toronto to the limit and won the series in 7 games, but in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, they were outplayed by the Miami Heat 4-1, and it would unexpectedly come to a bizarre off-season for Brooklyn, as Jason Kidd unexpectedly was traded to Milwaukee to become their head coach in exchange for several draft picks.
After that went down, the Nets decided to bring in Lionel Hollins, who had a successful run in Memphis for several season with the Grizzlies, to take over a Brooklyn team that has a mixture of veterans and young guns that is ready to take the next step entering the 2014-15 campaign with Hollins at the helm in Brooklyn, and the Nets will be indeed a team that we will keep our eye on this season in the Eastern Conference.
Upcoming team previews in the "30 Teams in 30 Days" series:
- Sunday: Philadelphia 76ers
- Monday: Washington Wizards
- Tuesday: Charlotte Hornets
