The Charlotte Hornets improve to 21-19 after their win over the Milwaukee Bucks. The Hornets had a rough start to their first quarter, but turned things around before the quarter ended. James Borrego made some adjustments on defense and dipped into his bench a little early in the game to turn the tide before the lead became insurmountable. Borrego credited his team's defense for the swing and the momentum it caused.
“We made some shots at the end of the first quarter, but the game turned with our defense and it carried over into the 2nd quarter. That second unit turned the game. We mixed up our coverages and played with urgency. It's not perfect against them because Giannis is a one man wrecking crew, but our guys battled.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo did have 43 points, but the Hornets made him earn 18 of those points at the line. You hate to put a guy at the stripe all game long, but it's a better game plan to force a 69 percent free throw shooter to beat you from the line. Plus, Giannis is just one of those guys you expect to have great games at this point.
Miles Bridges, who finished with 21 points and eight rebounds, chimed on his team's win as well. He was “impressed” with the Hornets swarming defense.
“Their two stars (Giannis and Khris Middleton) did a good job scoring the ball, but we try to make sure the other guys didn't affect the game.”
The Bucks two stars and Bobby Portis combined for 89 points, but the rest of the team had 12 points. The Hornets were able to get stops in the third quarter to break this game open. The fourth quarter got a little tight in the end though. The Bucks cut a huge double digit deficit down to single digits at one point. Suddenly, all the shots the Bucks were failing to convert in the third quarter, began to drop in the fourth. That's just the top of effort you'd expect form a championship team.
Luckily for the Hornets, they have Terry Rozier on their team, who is one of the most clutch scorers in the league. Rozier finished with 28 points, including a vintage Scary Terry dagger to mark this game down as a W for his squad.
🎯 TERRY ROZIER SINKS THE CLUTCH TRIPLE 🎯@hornets extend the lead late on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/L8Rrlv9ZoR pic.twitter.com/NKm3DP49ZH
— NBA (@NBA) January 9, 2022
Rozier had this to say about his big time shot:
“I just made a read. The whole gym was staring at Melo and I just wanted to create some confusion for the defense. I just slipped out on a pick and I was wide open. That's something we always work on. I'm just glad I was open and able to knock down the shot.”
Rozier's clutch gene is something that the Hornets can always seem to rely on. Fortunately, the Hornets have won two straight games and have some momentum. However, they're going to have to replicate this kind of performance again on Monday against the Bucks again come Monday night, which won't be easy.
Borrego summed it up the best way possible for Monday's matchup:
“Will they handle their loss, better than we handled the win? Or will we have a maturity battle and say that we're gonna come out swinging with something to prove on Monday vs. the NBA champions?”
The Bucks showed they know how to bounce back after capturing a title last year. Should be a fun matchup for the Hornet on Monday and a huge learning curve.
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