Hornets 129
Wizards 124
November 22, 2017, Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC
On Thanksgiving Eve, John Wall returned to the state he grew up in against the Michael Jordan owned Charlotte Hornets. With his 31-point and 11 assist performance, Wall has the most 30 point/10 assist games in team history with 15 passing Gilbert Arenas. Unfortunately for Washington, they could not close out the game with defense and suffered another disappointing loss. In overtime, the Wizards fell 129-124.
Inefficient Play From The House Of Guards
The duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal combined for 20 of 48 (41.6 percent) shooting from the field and 3 of 13 (23.1 percent) from deep. There is nothing wrong with them having bad shooting nights, but they, especially Beal in this game, should take it upon themselves to get others involved as the rest of the starting unit was 14 of 23 (60.9 percent) from the field. Each had a 3 of 11 start from the field in the first half and Wall bounced back, while Beal continued to struggle. He missed a critical free throw at the end of regulation that allowed Charlotte to tie the game with a two instead of a three.
Third Quarter Collapse and Inability To Finish
Early in the second half, the Wizards were up 68-57 and it looked like the road team would be able to kickoff Thanksgiving on a high note. The Hornets had other things in mind as they went on a 16-2 run over the next three plus minutes.
Washington would respond with a 24-10 run to take a nine-point fourth quarter lead, but Charlotte was not done. With 3:10 left in the game, the Wizards were up 111-102 after a couple of mid-range jump shots from Wall, but from that point it was all home team. Charlotte finished regulation on a 12-3 run and extended it to 27-11 late into overtime. When the Wizards are entering the playoffs wishing they had a higher seed, they will be looking at this game among others in disappointment.
Dwight Howard and Jeremy Lamb Were Problems
In the first half, Marcin Gortat was able to keep Dwight Howard mostly in check with 7 points on 2 of 5 shooting and 4 rebounds, but he took over in the third quarter. Howard played all 12 minutes out of halftime to score 13 points on a perfect 5 of 5 shooting with 6 rebounds. He was cleaning up everything Charlotte was missing and was frustrating everyone on Washington. Howard would finish the game with 26 points on 10 of 13 shooting, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block of Beal at the end of regulation to force overtime.
With Nicolas Batum leaving the game at halftime, Jeremy Lamb got to play extended minutes, 37:15. He made the most of them with a game-best +26, a big swing from Batum's -13 at the shooting guard position. Lamb had 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists and seemed unstoppable to Washington as he made timely shots consistently throughout the game.
Losing Battle On Boards and In The Paint In Second Half
In the first half, Washington won the battle on the boards and points in the paint 23-18 and 28-18, respectively. If that continued in the second half, the Wizards would have won the game, but a switch was flipped and the Hornets began to take over in the two categories. In the second half including overtime, the Hornets won the rebounding contest, 30-20, and scored a whopping 34 points in the paint, nearly doubling what they had in the first half. Charlotte turned their 14 offensive rebounds into 23 second-chance points, which is completely inexcusable and the sign that Washington is not partaking in team rebounding.
Positive Pixel: Mike Scott
I can understand if Scott Brooks wants to keep a starter on the court at all times and am actually all for it even if it means the rotation shrinks to 9-men, but I have no idea why the odd man out in that case would be Mike Scott. Coming into tonight, he was a did not play due to coach's decision in two of the last four games. Brooks did not make the mistake of leaving the forward on the bench tonight as he scored 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting including 3 of 5 from deep with four rebounds in under 19 minutes. Especially when Kelly Oubre Jr. is struggling to efficiently score, as was the case tonight with the wing shooting 3 of 9, Scott is the only guy off the bench that can create his own shot and should never be out of the rotation at this rate.
Next Game: After a two-day break for Thanksgiving, the Wizards will return home for one-game against the Portland Trail Blazers before another couple games on the road.