Suns Obliterate Hornets for Season Sweep
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - It was a night to forget for the Charlotte Hornets who fell 133-99 to the Phoenix Suns. The loss snaps the Hornets' three-game winning streak that closed out the long, six-game road trip.
Not much went right for Charlotte on either end of the floor. They were ice cold from three, shooting just 25.7%, didn't have much interest in rebounding the ball, and had way too many lapses defensively.
"We had really good practices the last two days. I thought we were fresh, we added new bodies but we've got another game to play tomorrow we can't hang our heads. We've got to move on and move forward. They looked like the hungry team. They looked like they lost three in a row. We looked like a team that won three in a row. They handled their loss better than we handled our win, period.
The way the game started, it felt like we would have a back and forth affair between the two squads, but mainly between Devin Booker and LaMelo Ball. After the first five minutes or so, Phoenix pulled ahead by ten and never allowed Charlotte back in it. Booker finished the night with 24 points in 29 minutes, but arguably the biggest surprise of the night was Jalen Smith who filled in the starting lineup for Deandre Ayton in the middle. Smith had his way with Mason Plumlee in the paint going for 19 points, 12 rebounds, and a pair of blocks. Not to mention, he threw down a thunderous slam dunk over Plumlee and let him know about it.
With the game well in hand for Phoenix, Borrego emptied the bench and put in James Bouknight, Kai Jones, JT Thor, Nick Richards, and others to give them some minutes. Richards showed some good things notching eight points and seven rebounds in just 16 minutes, but the others combined for a total of four points.
The Charlotte Hornets will be back in action Monday night in Washington to take on the Wizards. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST.
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