Hornets @ Timberwolves (11/10/15)

The Timberwolves are short a couple of people tonight, so the Hornets seemed like they were in a good position to pick up a win. What followed was: a sport game. I had these larger, bigger picture thoughts.

• Bench Play: Very impressive showing from Batum and the bench group for the entire game. For starters, Zeller, Lin, Lamb, Batum and assorted came back from a 12 point deficit to lead by one at the end of 1. They kept up that energy for the entire game. That bench trio ended the game with 51 combined points, and were three of the four highest scorers for the Hornets.
• 3 pt shooting and Turnovers: The Hornets actually shot quite a bit worse than the Wolves, hitting 8 threes at 30%. The Wolves hit 9 threes at 47%, but that was not the difference in the game. The bigger impact was the 22 Timberwolf turnovers. The Hornets turned the ball over too much as well, with 16 TO’s, but the Wolves turnovers came at really inopportune times. Big difference, and ultimately one of the deciding factors in the victory.
• Lack of athleticism: besides Zeller on the front line, the lack of bounciness hurts the rebounding numbers against athletic teams. I think this will be an ongoing concern. Zeller had 3 of the team's 4 offensive rebounds, and was consistently the only person on the glass on the offensive end. On the defensive end, the Hornets gave up 10 offensive rebounds, and you have to think part of that is Towns, Payne, Bjelica and Dieng just being more athletic than Jefferson and Williams.
• Big man rotation: Hawes is shooting with zero confidence right now. His plus/minus numbers were solid, but he is not able to score the ball with any confidence right now. Many other people have been suggesting this, but I am officially on the “Zeller and Kaminsky as the main backups” train. At least Kaminsky has confidence in his shot, and he is a reasonably clever passer as well. I can only assume that he hasn’t gained Clifford’s trust on the defensive end.

Nice win for the Hornets tonight. It was fantastic to see the bench carry the scoring load when the starters have an off night. Lamb began the second half with the starters, and it will be interesting to see if that is a permanent move. PJ Hairston did not play at all in the second half, and only 8 minutes total. Jeremy Lin said before the game that this was a time for the team to make a statement, and they seem to have done that. They will move forward with another win under their belts, and the San Antonio loss one further day in the past.