Blazers @ Hornets (11/15/15)

I missed Friday’s loss against Chicago, so this battle against a less talented TrailBlazer’s team was a nice way to get back into the action. Nicolas Batum was coming off of a hot night, and the Hornets were looking forward to the return of Cody Zeller, aka The Energizer Bunny.

• 1st Half Hot Hand: Batum continued his hot shooting and playmaking, finishing the first quarter not only with 11 points, but with 5 assists as well. He is playing through the distraction of the terror attacks in his home country, and really has showed strong focus and determination early on tonight. AND HE COULD NOT MISS in the first half. He was unbelievably hot tonight. Also gotta give some love to Big Al Jefferson. He got back on track in a big way, and he LITERALLY did not miss in the first hald. 20 points for each player in the first half. Batum finished with 33, and Jefferson with 29 points
• Jeremy Lamb: Got to show off some of the athleticism tonight. Had two dunks in the 2nd quarter and continues to be unbelievable as a scorer off the bench. He finished tonight with 13 points, 3 assists and 2 blocks.
• Clifford’s Offense: Coach Clifford really needs to be commended for his creativity and ball movement in the offense this year. This team is assisting the ball at a high rate, finding quality shots at a high rate, and just generally looking a lot different than the Hornets/Bobcats of years past. Tonight, they assisted on 29 of 41 field goals, even with a very cold 4th quarter. Clifford received a lot of criticism for those boring offenses, and he deserves just as much praise in the early stages of this season.
• Beating Terrible Teams: I wrote the title to this paragraph in the third quarter, but it can still serve after a poor 4th quarter showing by the Hornets. One of the calling cards of excellent teams is a hunger to win. Teams that are talented and have a strong desire to win all 82 games are teams that go deep in the playoffs. The Hornets do not quite seem to be at that point. They are scoring the ball better, but their defense has not been up to par yet, and they need to show the ability to put bad teams away and keep them away.

The Hornets sting their way back to a .500 record! This will obviously keep them in contention for the lower few playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, and we keep seeing glimpses of a growing and maturing team. Good stuff to watch tonight.