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76ers Sweep Two-Game Set with Hornets

The Hornets fall to 14-13 on the year.

CHARLOTTE, NC - It was another close battle on Wednesday night between the Charlotte Hornets and the Philadelphia 76ers but once again, the Sixers prevailed with a 110-106 victory, dropping the Hornets to 14-13 on the season.

After a tightly contested first quarter that resulted in a 26-26 score, the 76ers went on a 13-3 run that heavily featured big man Andre Drummond. Hornets head coach James Borrego called a timeout to regroup and it led to a 14-0 run that put them back on top, 49-44.

Despite being one of the better three-point shooting teams in the league, the Hornets struggled mightily from deep in the first half connecting on just three of seventeen attempts. Surprisingly, the Hornets had a lot of success inside the paint but really had no choice but to keep attacking the rim on an off shooting night. Charlotte held a slim 53-51 lead at the half but Coach Borrego felt like it should have been much more.

"I thought we could have had a bigger lead going into halftime if we could have converted or got more shots in transition. Just too many careless turnovers in transition that cost us."

On Monday night, 76ers center Joel Embiid scored the ball at will and bullied the Hornets bigs seemingly all game long. Prior to the game, Borrego said he wanted his guys to make Embiid work more for his buckets and force him into some tough shots. A lot of that starts with where he catches the ball and on Monday, he was catching it too deep making it easy for him to score in the post. Nick Richards and P.J. Washington did a much better job of getting in better position but committed too many fouls that sent Embiid to the free-throw line, particularly in the third quarter.

"I thought we did a better job on him," Borrego said. "I don't have an answer for 19 free throws. When someone shoots 19-20 free throws a night, I don't have an answer for that. We rebounded, we did what we could, it is what it is.

Gordon Hayward had a strong finish to the third quarter scoring on back-to-back possessions in the paint one of which earned him an and one. After sinking the free-throw, the Hornets climbed to within one heading to the fourth. 

"We just had to stick with that aggression. I love his aggression," Borrego said of Gordon Hayward. "He was looking to get downhill, looking to create. I love the mentality, he's just got to stick with that same aggression that we need every single night."

With a little over three minutes remaining in the game, P.J. Washington hit a three to put the Hornets up 98-97. The Sixers answered right back with threes from Danny Green and Joel Embiid and then a powerful one-hand slam by Embiid to stretch the lead out to 105-98. Seth Curry hit a pair of free throws to extend it to eight but Charlotte made things interesting in the final minute. Washington drilled another three-ball from the top of the key and Kelly Oubre Jr. came up with a steal and fastbreak dunk to make it just a one-possession game. On the other end, Miles Bridges was called for reaching in when attempting to steal the ball and Tobias Harris converted both free throws. Kelly Oubre hit one more free throw to bring the deficit to four but that's as close as the Hornets would get in the final seconds as the Sixers were able to get the ball up the court and dribble the clock out.

The Hornets will be back in action on Friday night as they host the Sacramento Kings at 7 p.m. inside Spectrum Center.

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