LA Clippers Rout the Tired Charlotte Hornets, 111-96

The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Charlotte Hornets this Monday, bouncing back from a surprising defeat in Arizona two days ago. Kawhi Leonard and the company were routine against the guests from North Carolina, 111-96, posting their third win of the season.

Hornets were playing their second of back-to-back games after meeting the Lakers the night before. They were competitive only in the second quarter and apparently lost the juice in the latter stages of the match.

The home team opened the game better and easily got a double-digit lead. It was 25-11 for the Clippers at the midpoint of the period, after Ivica Zubac’s tip shot. But, the guests came back and managed to decrease the gap to only one bucket at the end of the sequence.

The fans saw an intense fight in the second, with teams trading punches, and Hornets having a minimal lead. However, Doc Rivers’ crew had a small edge at the break, 57-54.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYJ5HuyY7SQ

Hosts didn’t lose their focus and composure in the third, while on the other side, Charlotte was slowly starting to slow down, as they couldn’t keep up with the tempo imposed by the Clippers. A much longer bench, and better players on the roster were the reasons for LA’s explosion in the final quarter. In those moments, they had 17 points of advantage, held everything under control, and didn’t panic when Hornets cut the lead to 8. Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell rebuffed that attack, closing the game without any troubles.

Kawhi had 30 points, 7 boards, and 6 assists with 3 blocks. He was unstoppable at certain moments. As usual, Williams and Harrell were dominant in the second half, coming off the bench. Sweet Lou added 23 points, with 4 rebounds and assists each, while Harrell ended the night with 19 buckets and 7 rebounds, four of them in the offense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nAHhtdLHWQ

Laundry Shamet hit four threes in the opening 6 minutes of the match but didn’t maintain the same rhythm until the end. The sophomore finished the contest with 16 points. Ivica Zubac had 5 rejections.

What might be the reason for concern among the Clippers fans are the turnovers. They had 22 of them against the Hornets, who later scored 33 points off them. It is more than one-third of the guests’ points in tonight’s game. Also, the hosts allowed too many uncontested shots, which might be a problem in the future, as they already did the same against the Suns.

Charlotte’s players resisted while they had power. Playing against the two biggest title contenders two nights in a row would definitely be exhausting for much better sides than they are. Terry Rozier posted 17 points, Malik Monk had 15 off the bench, while Devonte Graham and Cody Zeller posted double-doubles. Both had 14 points, with Zeller grabbing 13 boards, while Graham had one fewer

The Hornets continue their tour through California against the Sacramento Kings, this Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, the Clippers will have quite a challenge on the same day as they travel to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Jazz.