By Matt Rochinski, hornets.com
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Result
A late third-quarter run by the opposing team sealed the fate of the Charlotte Hornets for the second-straight game as they fell to the Spurs, 102-85, on Saturday, Jan. 7 in San Antonio. Playing without second-leading scorer Nicolas Batum (knee), the Hornets hung with San Antonio roughly nine minutes into the third quarter before the Spurs took complete control, cruising to their ninth-straight home win and 30th overall victory of the season. This is Charlotte’s 10th-consecutive regular season road loss to the Spurs, with their most recent win at the AT&T Center coming on Nov. 15, 2006.
Turning Point
With the score tied 60-60 at the 3:21 mark of the third quarter, the Spurs quickly distanced themselves from the Hornets by closing out the game on a 42-25 run to pick up the victory. Despite holding a three-point lead at halftime, Charlotte connected on just 6-of-20 field-goal attempts (30.0 percent) for a season-low 14 third-quarter points while also turning the ball over five times leading to eight points for San Antonio.
Hornets Player of the Game
Kemba Walker finished with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting, two rebounds and a team-high-tying three assists in the loss. Walker also drained his 100th three-pointer of the season in the first quarter, becoming just the second player in the Eastern Conference to reach this threshold so far this season (Toronto’s Kyle Lowry).
Spurs Player of the Game
Davis Bertans, a first-year rookie from Latvia, scored a career-high 21 points on 5-of-6 shooting (4-of-5 from three-point range) to go along with two assists in 18 minutes off the bench in the victory. The Spurs are now a perfect 14-0 this season when Bertans scores at least one point in any game.
Game Notes
Jeremy Lamb made his second-career start for the Hornets, finishing with 13 points, eight rebounds and a team-high-tying three assists… Michael Kidd-Gilchrist tallied 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting, a team-high-tying nine rebounds and a team-high two steals in the loss… Marvin Williams chipped in 11 points and five rebounds… Roy Hibbert added 10 points and five rebounds… Cody Zeller returned from a three-game absence (NBA concussion protocol), notching nine points and a team-high-tying nine rebounds… The Spurs knocked down 13-of-34 three-point attempts (38.2 percent) while the Hornets hit just 4-of-21 shots from long range (19.0 percent)… Charlotte had 16 turnovers leading to 20 points for San Antonio and scored eight points on just seven giveaways by the Spurs… San Antonio outscored Charlotte in bench points, 55-22.
Quote of the Night
“Their defense in the second half was really good. Again, the biggest stretch in the game was similar to the other night in Detroit. We’re right there at the end of the third and we broke the lineup and just got drilled. Similar to the other night, we’re going to have to have everybody play well with Nic [Batum] out right here. We’re going to have to have some guys step up and we’ve struggled with that these last two games.”- Hornets coach Steve Clifford
Quote of the Night
“Their defense in the second half was really good. Again, the biggest stretch in the game was similar to the other night in Detroit. We’re right there at the end of the third and we broke the lineup and just got drilled. Similar to the other night, we’re going to have to have everybody play well with Nic [Batum] out right here. We’re going to have to have some guys step up and we’ve struggled with that these last two games.”- Hornets coach Steve Clifford
Next Up
The Hornets will stay in the state of Texas to take on the Rockets at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 10 in Houston. The game can be seen on FOX Sports Southeast or heard on WFNZ or on the official Charlotte Hornets mobile app
next up
Tuesday Jan 10 - 8:00 pmToyota Center, Houston, TX
Fox Sports Southeast - Charlotte Hornets App & WFNZ 610 AM