Streak Over! Hornets Lose Last-Second Heartbreaker to Philadelphia

Things started on perhaps the worst possible note for the Charlotte Hornets (39-34) tonight vs the Philadelphia 76ers (40-34).

Less than three minutes in, Sixers C Joel Embiid went tumbling to the floor in a scrap for a rebound with Hornets C Moussa Diabate. The referees called a loose-ball foul on the moose; his second of the game already. Both called while on Embiid.

You could say this was a nightmare start for the home team, to say the least.

First Quarter

Charlotte came into this ever-important playoff-seeding game needing someone to offset the presence of former MVP Joel Embiid, and the Hornets got it in the first quarter from Brandon Miller.

Miller scored 11 straight points in the back half of the first quarter and accounted for 16 of the Hornets' 36 total 1Q points. Moussa Diabate was sidelined after just three minutes into the first with foul trouble; Diabate had two early ones in those few minutes on Embiid.

Most nights of late, an explosion like that from any one of the Hornets' main core, especially Miller, has had them way out front by the end of the first.

Diabate's foul trouble complicated that.

While Miller had a brilliant first period, so did Embiid; Embiid finished the first with 14 points of his own. He was getting everything he wanted early, even more so once Moose sat down.

Embiid also ended the first with a technical after pushing LaMelo to the ground around the midway point of the first twelve minutes. Not quite the same as foul trouble, but having to pay even that extra second's worth of attention mattered.

Second Quarter

In peak character, LaMelo came back in the second quarter, firing with confidence. He hit a three-pointer before a minute of the second had passed. The Hornets made eight of their first thirteen three-point attempts.

Miller and Coby play incredibly well off each other here in the second... just a crease in the game that I noticed. Now that I’m here proofreading, it feels like Charlotte didn’t go back to this lineup enough later in the game.

The Hornets spent most of the second quarter hovering just around a 10-point lead and, initially, didn't look in form to squander it; they just couldn't get much farther ahead. The Sixers hung around much longer than other teams have in contests like this, and not giving in at this point in the game is what ultimately won it for Philly.

Miller led the way in the first, but he played 11 minutes. The first half of the second quarter was classic Hornets basketball: ball movement, penetration and kick-outs, extra swings, Grant Williams corner threes, Josh Green steals, spontaneous LaMelo magic. It had it all, even with Miller and White resting.

There was even the classic bad referee calls against the Hornets, too, the moment Embiid came back later in the second period. Embiid and Tyrese Maxey single-handedly kept Philadelphia in that range I mentioned above.

The Hornets would go on a run, and then a few turnovers would see Embiid and co. get it back to seven or eight points, and then Charlotte would streak again. The Sixers got it within one point once, and Charlotte took it right back in a split second during a sequence of plays that included a massive block on Philly's VJ Edgecombe at the rim.

The Sixers would never lead the game in the first half; at halftime, the Hornets had a five-point lead that felt way larger, 69-64.

This first half reminded me of a boxing match with a world champion and an underdog, the Sixers being the dog here. The type of fight where the favorite is barely wincing, and yes, the underdog is still FIGHTING six rounds in... but the difference is more than clear. All it took was a look at the two teams' faces.

Third Quarter

Smooth and calm were the Hornets, but Philadelphia punched earlier in the third, going on a quick 5-0 run before a minute of the quarter had elapsed. Miles Bridges stopped it from getting worse with two free-throw makes, taking the lead back to two.

Moussa had an and-one after an offensive rebound the next time down, and the Hornets had all the momentum right back, despite the Moose's failure to convert the and-one. Two Miller free throws, and two Miller three-pointers later, after Moose's and-one? The Hornets had responded to the 5-0 tie at 69-69 with their own 11-0 run to reclaim a double-digit lead, 80-69.

A ton of action and sway in just the first few minutes of the third -- like a boxing match again. It's what I felt all night. Philly would swing, Charlotte would stumble for 5 points, but then land haymakers and respond emphatically. They did it all night... until the final moment it mattered most.

The Hornets carried the momentum that started with Moose all the way to a 19-4 run and their largest lead of the night, 88-73.

The fifteenth point of that run was on a putback dunk from Brandon Miller, where he almost jumped over somebody entirely. Think LeBron James in Miami when he completely cleared an entire human for an alley-oop catch.

This was the point of the game when you start thinking to yourself, "If they keep their composure, this is over. Philly may not have many punches left."

Then again, the Hornets found themselves floundering late in their game against the New York Knicks on Thursday. Boy, do certain sections of gameplay for the Hornets leave you dreaming, though. Mesmerizing stuff, at points, for these Bugs.

LaMelo went out of the game for the second section of the third quarter, and just as you think Philly could be gone, they cut it back to only seven, 88-81, before two Grant Williams free throws in a very early Hornets bonus pushed it to nine again.

Only thirty seconds later did Philadelphia and former Charlotte Hornet Kelly Oubre, by way of a Hornets turnover, come back to five down, and then just three...

Poof. A fifteen-point lead and daydreams of seventh place were gone; evaporated into thin air. I wrote all this in real time, so this is working out quite hilariously. Like the boxing match I continue to use as an allegory, the Hornets punched their way back to a six-point lead that they'd hold until winning time started.

Through it all, to this point after 36 minutes of play, the 76ers still had not held an outright lead in this game. Tied, but no lead. The third quarter ends with Eric Collins calling Joel Embiid a free-throw merchant. Charlotte led by five going into the last 12, 97-92.

Fourth Quarter

The Sixers head coach Nick Nurse was going for absolute broke to start the fourth: Andre Drummond was out there at C for Philadelphia. He really hurt Charlotte in the very first matchup between the two teams, in just the fourth game of the Hornets' season.

It clearly gave the Sixers something.

Two minutes later, almost on the dot, Tyrese Maxey absolutely exploded like a prime John Wall on a Hornets turnover and dunked on Miles Bridges worse than I think anybody ever has.

Eric Collins called it ferocious. Can’t argue with that one. The dunk tied the game at 97 all, and it would stay that way for a few minutes of play.

Maxey would break the tie at 8:53 in the fourth with a tough layup high off the glass, and gave the visitors their first lead of the entire game.

Charlotte was cold offensively for almost three full minutes of play before and after the Maxey dunk. Oubre made it worse on the Hornets not long after. Another Hornet got dunked on badly, for the second time in only a few minutes of ball; this time, Moussa Diabate the unfortunate victim.

The 76ers had their largest lead of the night, 101-97. Oubre would give it back to Charlotte right after a timeout following his dunk, fouling Brandon Miller on a three on the Hornets first possession back down the floor. Miller would make 2/3, and after a Hornets stop on defense, Knueppel hit his biggest shot of the game to this point.

Like Batman: when his team needed him the most, you found him fading away in the corner, hand to his face, and still made the three. This shot won’t get remembered in a loss... but I won’t forget, Konman.

Knueppel brought the Hornets within one, and just one possession later, Knueppel returned the favor from LaMelo’s assist, found Ball in the corner, and he drained the wide-open three, giving Charlotte a two-point lead again.

This has been an absolutely electric basketball game.

Prime example? Edgecombe responded right back the next play with a three of his own, and Embiid followed with a make over Grant Williams at the top of the key. 108-105, Sixers... Ball would tie it a few sets later for the Hornets at 108 all.

With under three minutes left, Miles Bridges made his biggest shot in the least likely of ways: a screen and fade falling away from his left shooting arm when he received the pass from his long-tenured running mate Ball. Bang.

Bridges gave the Hornets a one-point lead, 111-110, that lasted until right above a minute. Paul George took his time on a drive to the basket and got himself to the stripe...

Philly led briefly until LaMelo came right back down, before running a set play, and buried a three-pointer a few feet beyond the arc. The guts this shot took are unexplainable if you didn’t ebb and flow live with this game.

Philadelphia’s next time down the floor, Bridges was called for a blocking foul on Embiid, a call Charles Lee and the Hornets challenged, to no avail. With the 76ers in the Bonus and no reversal given, the former MVP went to the stripe and only nailed one of two, but an early jump on the rebound from Williams gave Philly the ball back.

This was one of the biggest mistakes of the whole game.

A set inbounds play that Philly got into ultra-fast following Williams' complaints to the refs let Paul George give the Sixers a two-point lead with a corner three that could’ve been avoided altogether.

To make it worse, Charlotte turned it over the next time down. They were lucky to find Tyrese Maxey miss 1/2 FT’s to keep the deficit at three points, 117-114, Philadelphia.

The Hornets had a chance to go and take one of the last shots of the game to tie it, and Charles Lee opted not to call a timeout. I respected the trust in real time.

With 4.4 on the shot clock and 7.4 on the game clock, LaMelo passed to Miller in the corner for a three that was blocked by Joel Embiid into the stands.

Lee took his last timeout without hesitation, and with a 4.4-second shot clock, the Hornets had to go quick.

LaMelo Ball caught a cross-court skip from Sion James on the inbound that was lucky to get off before the five-second inbound limit — Ball snuck to his right, and a good ball fake gave him an open look that fell just short and hit the front rim.

Charlotte fouled Paul George in the backcourt; George only needed 1/2, and that’s what he got. Charlotte loses this all-important seeding game right at the death...

This is one of those games that’s a heartbreaker, but you have to lose these games as a young team. They fought with all they had, and only a few mistakes were the difference here.

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter for the latest news and updates on the Charlotte Hornets