GAMENOTES: Regular Season Game #34 Charlotte Hornets (7-26) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (30-4) - January 5th, 2025

FINAL

Charlotte Hornets 105 (7-27) - Cleveland Cavaliers 115 (31-4)

THE BOXSCORE

WHY DID THEY LOSE? (AND OTHER IMPORTANT STORIES)

• The Cleveland Cavaliers are the best team in the league and the Hornets are playing like one of, if not the, worst teams in the league. The Hornets spared themselves complete annihilation and the humiliation that accompanies it thanks to the return of Brandon Miller and his 24 points on 57% shooting and 6 made three pointers. But poor ball movement and energy on offense in the first half and defense that was slow to react in the halfcourt and in transition allowed Darius Garland (25-3-2) and Evan Mobley (17-5-1) to have their way. Donovan Mitchell would tack on 17 in the 2nd half to seal the deal and send the Hornets to their 10th straight loss.

  • Hornets largely kept the Cavs off the glass and kept their turnovers in check which helped keep the lead from getting out of control. Also none of the Cavs bench shooters went thermo. Thank you Ty Jerome.

• LaMelo Ball (24-3-4) also returned but so did his outside shooting struggles. He was 3 of 11 from 3 in a largely inefficient night for him.

• Nick Smith Jr. finished with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists and a lot of that damage was done intelligently, efficiently and outside of garbage time.. It was one of his best games as a Hornet. He led a second unit that helped give the Hornets a little bit of energy that kept Cavs leads from sniffing 30.

• Mark Williams could not follow up his streak of eye popping stat lines. His near double-double (11-9) belies a game in which Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen had their way with him. He was beat down the floor by Mobley several times and got an earful from Brandon Miller on one of those occasions.

• Nick Richards wasn’t much better on either end. Lee went with Taj Gibson over Nick Richards for a majority of the game and also went small and let Mark play a little with the second unit. I think this is illustrative of how far the Hornets are from true contender talent.

  • We’re also entering a period where the locker room knows that a number of players are on the chopping block, chief among them Nick Richards who’s friendly contract and past numbers will still make him an attractive depth piece for a contender.

• The Cavs are the best team in the NBA so I think if you just look at the final score you can easily say, “Hey not bad. I’ll take it.” But I think the Cavs were playing with their food a little bit and the Hornets did not play a brand of basketball that was even in the same solar system as what the Cavs deliver on a nightly basis.

• The Hornets managed to score 30+ in each half so that’s a win.

NEWS AND NOTES

• LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller made available to play an hour before tip. Seth Curry ruled out with knee soreness.