GALLERY: Photo Gallery | Fashion | Honey BeesVIDEOS: Team Highlights | Parker Highlights | James Borrego | Tony Parker | Miles Bridges | Nic Batum
By Matt Rochinski
The great thing about the rigors of the NBA schedule is that there’s never much time from one game to the next.
Charlotte had a chance to bounce back quickly following a loss on the road in Atlanta on Sunday against one of the NBA’s best teams in the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday at Spectrum Center. Squaring off the team with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and the No. 1 team in NBA.com’s power rankings, Charlotte didn’t flinch on its home court and started off its four-game homestand with a 110-107 victory over the Bucks to move the Hornets to 10-10 overall.
“Our defense won this game tonight against probably the best offense in the league,” said Head Coach James Borrego. “They’re the top scoring offense in the league and number one in efficiency. We knew we had a great challenge tonight and the guys delivered. The only thing we talked about at shoot around today was our defense. Our defense let us down last night but won us the game tonight and has to win us the game every night. That’s who we have to be. This was Milwaukee’s lowest points in the paint(40) for this season and that was our group in there that got that done.”
Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb continued to give Charlotte its one-two UConn punch as the team’s top scorers, with both players finishing with 21 points, while Tony Parker came off the bench to score 15 points, including six crucial points in the decisive fourth quarter. Lamb has scored 15-or-more points in nine of his 20 appearances this season after scoring as many points in 28 of his 80 appearances in 2017-18. He has had four outings with 20-or-more points in 2018-19 after having five such games in 2017-18.
Marvin Williams had his second-straight impressive performance from long range, scoring 16 points while going 4-of-6 from behind the arc. His four treys tied the season high set Sunday in Atlanta. After scoring 20 points against the Hawks, Williams has now scored 15+ points in consecutive games since his stretch from April 8-10, 2018.
Charlotte was re-energized by the return of two key players against Milwaukee - Parker, who sat out the Hornets two-game road trip, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who returned after a six-game absence with a sprained ankle. MKG’s insertion back into the Hornets lineup paid instant dividends. He checked into the contest with Charlotte reeling in the first quarter and trailing 28-14. Fueled by MKG’s energy on both ends of the court, the Hornets countered with an 18-7 run to close the first quarter and trim Milwaukee’s lead to 35-32 heading to the second.
“MKG and Tony were huge,” said Borrego. “Just to get MKG’s defense, activity and urgency back in our lineup was big and we knew that. We have felt his absence the last four or five games. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we have that type of effort tonight with him back in the lineup. It wasn’t just him tonight. All of our guys were swarming.”
The Hornets bench continued to step up in the second stanza, led by five points off the bench from Malik Monk and another five from their captain, Walker. Led by Monk, Charlotte’s bench unit helped close the first half with a 26-7 explosion to turn a three-point deficit into a 65-52 advantage heading to the locker room at the break.
On the back half of a back-to-back and playing their third game in four days, Hornets fans knew there might be some fall off in the second half against one of the East’s hottest teams. The Bucks saw Charlotte’s lead grow to as many as 25 points early in the third quarter but they refused to fold, chipping away at the Hornets advantage. By the end of the third, Milwaukee had worked Charlotte’s lead down to a manageable 93-80 lead with 12 minutes remaining.
The Hornets saw that lead reduced to four, 97-93, with 5:15 remaining when it was time for Charlotte’s elder statesman to step up. First Parker put an end to Milwaukee’s 9-0 run with a jumper from the left side to give the Hornets a 99-93 lead. Following a stop on the other end, it was Parker again, this time with a spinning drive in the middle of the lane past Pat Connaughton to push the advantage to 101-93.
“Having Tony back just steadies us,” said Borrego. “He’s a winner. He’s been a winner his entire career. He helped us close that game out and the last time we struggled to close that game out. Tonight was a little different. He’s just a calming presence for us down the stretch.”
Still, the Bucks would not go away and trimmed the lead all the way down to one point, 108-107, with 15.0 left on the clock. With ice in his veins, Walker stepped up to knock down two free throws with 7.1 ticks on the clock, setting up a potential game-tying scenario for the Bucks. Then it was MKG’s time to shine again. First Cody Zeller picked up Eric Bledsoe on a switch after the inbounds pass and Bledsoe instantly got the ball to Khris Middleton, who had connected on three treys already to this point. However, MKG was all over Middleton and forced him to give the ball back to Bledsoe, whose desperation three was too strong as time expired, giving Charlotte a much-needed victory and marking the fifth-straight game between the teams decided by five points or less.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led six Bucks scoring in double figures with 20 points and added 13 rebounds to complete the double-double.
The Hornets homestand continues with a 7 p.m. tip against the Hawks on Wednesday at Spectrum Center.