Hornets' second half rally not enough to take down Mitchell, Mobley, Cavs

After a thrilling road trip that saw victories of 55, 23, and 18 points, the Charlotte Hornets returned to the Spectrum Center for an audience that had not yet appeared during the Charles Lee-era in Charlotte: the game would be featured on ESPN's NBA broadcast for the night, in a matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"It's a phenomenal opportunity for our organization, our players—they earned it," said Lee during his pregame media availability.

"This will be the norm because I know that we're gonna get better and better, and people are gonna want to see us on TV more."

Their ESPN debut could not have had a worse start.

The Cavs started off on a 28-8 run, backed behind a stellar rebounding performance and 15 combined points from Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell. For a team who is sixth in the league in first quarter scoring, the Hornets had just 20 first quarter points.

Things did not get any better during the second quarter. The Hornets tied their season-low for points in a single quarter during the period, with just 12 points. They entered halftime with just one player scoring double-figures, and only 32 total points.

To make matters worse, star LaMelo Ball came off the bench for just the third total time this season, and in the first half he recorded 2 points on 1/11 from the field and 0/7 from three. The Hornets entered halftime trailing by 24 points, and an uphill battle was needed to get back into the ballgame.

Brandon Miller answered the call in the third quarter, as the Hornets began to chip away. He recorded 17 of the team's 32 points, tying their first half score in a single quarter.

The Hornets continued to chip away in the third quarter, cutting the lead to just 7 points with the ball in their hands. A Kon Knueppel technical foul and Larry Nance Jr. three pointer gave the Cavs a double-digit cushion again, and the Spectrum Center faithful patiently (well, some of them) waited for Charles Lee to check his two stars back into the ballgame.

LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller were both back on the court for the Hornets with six minutes to go, and the team trailing by just 13 points.

The Hornets were able to cut the lead down to 4 with just 11.9 to go, but it was far too late.

The Hornets ended up falling to Cleveland 94-87, falling to 16-27 on the season.

Grant Williams

Though he recorded no points, Grant Williams made his return to the Spectrum Center court during Wednesday's loss to Cleveland. He grabbed in 6 rebounds, added 4 assists, 3 steals, and was a +20 in the loss.

Williams value cannot be understated, as he has been a constant positive for the Hornets so far since returning from injury.

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