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The Charlotte Hornets fall to 0-2 on their west coast road trip with a loss to the Sacramento Kings. LaMelo Ball and Gordon Hayward, however, looked like they were in mid-season form.
Ball finished with 24 points and 13 assists. He was listed as probable to play in this game after suffering a scary fall against the Golden State Warriors a few nights ago. Still, he managed to keep this loss from being any more brutal with the help of Hayward, who chipped in with 25 points of his own. A 30-point blowout goes to show two things. One, they couldn't make shots and two, they couldn't stop the opposition.
Hornets coach James Borrego painted the picture for the media in black and white. “In the first quarter we gave up 41,” Borrego said. “The emphasis going into the game was defense, but it has to remain the focus. That's how we're going to dig out this hole right now, is defensively. We gotta commit to it, it's a long season. We're ten games in, we just have to commit to the other end of the floor.”
LaMelo Ball also chimed in and said “We just have to lock in. We're a little sluggish getting back. So, we just have to watch the film and see where the mistakes are coming from.”
The Hornets got smashed on the glass as well. The Kings had 56 rebounds to their 28. It was just a rough night overall for the Hornets. They gave up 14 first quarter threes as well. However, there is still a few more games in the road trip, so the Hornets need to have a short-term memory here and get ready for their next game.
The Hornets continue their road trip in Los Angeles where they will clash with both the Lakers and Clippers. They will take on a Clippers team first, who are trying to string together some wins to climb back to the top of the Western Conference. Charlotte will watch the film from the Sacramento game and hopefully fix their mistakes before facing a hungry a Clippers team. Nonetheless, a lot of the pressure remains on LaMelo Ball.
