All Hornets

Hornets fall to Kings as Zach LaVine scores season-high

The Hornets have now lost their last two games by a combined 95 points.
Ali Jawad|
Sacramento Kings guard Zach LaVine drives to the basket against the Charlotte Hornets during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center.
Sacramento Kings guard Zach LaVine drives to the basket against the Charlotte Hornets during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

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Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets suffered another blow out loss on Monday night, falling to the Sacramento Kings 130-88, just two days after enduring a franchise-worst 53-point defeat.

The loss drops Charlotte to 6-21 on the road, having lost six of their last seven games overall. Sacramento (29-28) moved above .500 with the victory, snapping their two-game losing streak.

Despite Charlotte taking an early 10-7 lead, Sacramento took control of the rest of the game. The Kings closed the first quarter on a 12-5 run and buried 12 3-pointers in the first half, taking a 65-45 lead into halftime.

The Hornets showed brief signs of life with a 9-0 run to open the third quarter but couldn't reduce the deficit to single digits. Sacramento ran away with the contest following a 25-3 run in the fourth.

Miles Bridges led Charlotte with 23 points and six rebounds, while LaMelo Ball and Nick Smith Jr. each contributed 13 points. Bridges surpassed former Hornet Marvin Williams (681 career 3-pointers) for fourth place in franchise history with now 685 from deep, shooting 4 of 8 from beyond the arc on the night.

Zach LaVine dominated with a season-high 42 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter. He shot an efficient 16 of 19 from the field and 8 of 9 from 3-point range. DeMar DeRozan added 18 points and seven rebounds.

The Kings dominated Charlotte statistically, shooting 54% from the field compared to the Hornets' 35.3%, their third-worst team shooting percentage this season.

The Kings torched Charlotte from beyond the arc, hitting 20 of 38 three-pointers (tied for third-most as a team this season) while Charlotte struggled, making just 10 of 40.

Sacramento also outperformed in rebounds (49-37), assists (30-24), fast-break points (31-10), and points in the paint (50-38).

Charlotte's 19 turnovers resulted in 30 Sacramento points.

Highlight of the Night: Moussa was just where he needed to be

Moussa Diabaté slammed home the rebound after Ball's missed three.

Charles Lee Postgame Quote Following Loss

Charles Lee - Charlotte Hornets
Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee motions to his bench during the second quarter of the game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

“I think we did a really good job in the third quarter of making the appropriate adjustments; having the right intentionality of how we were guarding people, how we were chopping them up, and getting what we want offensively, too," Lee said postgame. "Some of the offensive possessions when you get a great stop, you’re coming down on the fast break; can you convert? The game feels a lot different if so. I think we dug ourselves a little bit of a hole to be down 20 at half the basics and fundamentals of the game, can we be better in and be more consistent in?”

Looking Ahead

Charlotte continues their West Coast trip with an 11th back-to-back of the season, facing the Golden State Warriors in the Bay Area on Tuesday night.

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Ali Jawad
ALI JAWAD

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