The Cleveland Cavaliers came into Spectrum Center and took a win away from the Charlotte Hornets. Miles Bridges and Co. dug themselves in a major hole in the first 12 minutes of play, going down by 19 points after the opening quarter 40-21.

“We've been able to dig ourselves out of holes in the past, but you can't do that every night,” coach James Borrego said.

The Hornets have had a few wins where they have come back after being down big going into halftime. Somehow, they usually managed to pull those games out, but it just wasn't the case Monday night. When Borrego was asked if his team was getting complacent with being down big, he said, ” I hope not.”

“That's not winning basketball. It's a frustrating way to start the game. We won the second, third, and fourth quarter, but it was just a very carless first quarter,” he added.

Borrego is mainly referring to the ridiculous amount of turnovers that the Hornets had to start the game. They were attempting to just make the big play as quick as possible and were just fumbling the ball to the Cavs all game long. Part of the credit goes to Cleveland for making Charlotte  work for everything on the floor–especially in that first quarter when the Cavs were able to build their lead all game long.

Miles Bridges also struggled shooting the ball, but he did flirt with a near triple-double (13 points, nine rebounds, \ight8 assists). He had some strong comments about the Hornets' slow start in the first quarter.

“We just got to have a better sense of urgency. I feel like we’re coming out too lackadaisical just thinking teams are just going to give us a lead and then (they) come out and hit us in the face first. We just got to do a better job with taking the first hit,” Bridges shared.

The Hornets did get punched in the mouth in the first quarter, but they responded well enough to make it competitive at the end of the game. It was just to0 little, too late for their offense to really get going.

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On the bright side, the Hornets backcourt looked like they found their rhythm again. LaMelo Ball finished with 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists. His energy sparked a run that helped them cut the deficit down to within single digits. Then Terry Rozier dropped 13 points in the fourth quarter to help Charlotte inch closer. He finished with 23 points, which is a season-high for him. It is only his third game back in the lineup, but he seems to be finding his groove at the right time.

The Hornets are going to kick off their road trip on Wednesday against the Golden State Warriors. The Bay is never an easy place to play for any team. Maybe Buzz City will be able to find more positives from this loss and start their road trip off with a promising win.