More Coverage: Game Gallery | James Borrego Postgame | Mason Plumlee Postgame | Terry Rozier Postgame
Playing at home for the first time in 17 days, the Charlotte Hornets took advantage of a depleted Houston Rockets squad to notch a 123-99 win on Monday night at Spectrum Center.
The victory came a little over 24 hours after the Hornets learned that both Miles Bridges and PJ Washington were placed into the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols, forcing Jalen McDaniels into the starting lineup. It wasn’t all bad news in this particular area though as the team did get lead wing defender Cody Martin back following a three-game absence.
As for the contest itself, this one stayed pretty even until about midway through the second quarter, when the Hornets rolled off a 55-30 run over the ensuing frame and a half to take a 96-70 lead into the fourth. The hosts never looked back from there, cruising to their largest victory of the season.
“Just a good overall team win,” said Hornets Head Coach James Borrego afterwards. “We had a target to hold [Houston] under 100 points. Our guys came out with the right mentality defensively I thought, in general for four quarters. We just got to keep building on that. Take our defense with us on the road. That’s the biggest area of growth for us. We have to sustain that type of effort, communication and urgency.”
Terry Rozier had a game-high 27 points on 7-of-12 from three and Mason Plumlee had 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and three blocks to lead all five Charlotte starters in double figures. Christian Wood and Eric Gordon each scored 16 points for the Rockets, who were down several rotational players including Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr., Jae’Sean Tate and Garrison Mathews because of injuries and Health and Safety Protocols.
Said Rozier, “I feel like 80 percent of shooting is confidence. I get a lot of shots up in the summer, but if my confidence isn’t there, I might as well not even shoot it. That’s the difference, just my confidence and it’s going to stay high. I just have to know that I’m one of the best shooters in this league, so I just got to let it go.”
Charlotte connected on 18-of-41 3-point attempts in the victory (44%), while holding the Rockets to 11-of-42 from deep (26%) after they canned their first four shots from behind the arc (15-of-46 overall; 33%). Houston also committed 21 turnovers that led to 28 Charlotte points in the other direction.
Although the Rockets won the first meeting 146-143 in overtime back at home last month, tonight’s rematch was one that on paper, the Hornets needed to play well and simply take care of business. Given the widespread absences around the league right now related to COVID-19, any win is a good win, regardless of whatever circumstances.
Added Borrego, “The reality is they’re missing a number of players, but I’m going to give our guys credit. They’re playing against an NBA team and I thought we were much more focused here in this game defensively. That was the number one priority going into the game and it needs to continue to be the number one priority for us.”
The Hornets will now be back on the road for a brief one-game trip to face the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, Dec. 29 starting at 7 PM ET at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.