National Basketball Association

Batum's Near Triple Double Not Enough as the Charlotte Hornets Fall to Cavaliers

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Charlotte Hornets lost their second straight game to a top Eastern Conference team when LeBron and the Cavs defeated them in Cleveland.

The Cleveland Cavaliers downed the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, 100-93. Charlotte only shot 38% from the field as they dropped to 6-3 on the season. It was also the team’s first road loss of the year.

Player of the Game:

Nicolas Batum

SG, Charlotte Hornets

Batum’s shooting struggles continued Sunday against the Cavaliers as he went just 5-12 from the field, including 1-5 from three-point range. However, Nic contributed across the box score with 15 points, 9 boards, and 7 assists while also adding 2 steals and a block.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

SF, Charlotte Hornets

MKG played 41 minutes in his return from back issues, and all things considered performed quite well. Matched up against LeBron James for most of the night, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist held his ground, allowing James to score only 19 points on 8-21 shooting. Kidd-Gilchrist was the only Hornet with double digit rebounds, pulling down 10 to go along with his 11 points.

Marvin Williams

SF, Charlotte Hornets

Like the rest of the Hornets, Marvin struggled overall from the field but managed to go 3-9 from deep where he scored most of his 16 points. Williams also pitched in 6 rebounds. Marvin was also one of only two Hornets with a plus-minus in the black Sunday (+6).

Kemba Walker

PG, Charlotte Hornets

Walker was unable to replicate the brilliance of his performance against the Raptors. Kemba had a rough day in terms of efficiency, making just 8 of his 21 shots from the field, although he did go 4-8 from three. Kemba might otherwise get a B- for today’s effort, but he never turned the ball over.

Cody Zeller

C, Charlotte Hornets

Zeller played just 14 minutes, went 0-4 from the floor, and grabbed just 4 rebounds. He didn’t do much in terms of counting stats, but Charlotte was +4 in his minutes. He also picked up foul trouble early and that’s why he was on the bench for most of the game.

Spencer Hawes

C, Charlotte Hornets

Hawes saw 20 minutes of action Sunday, in which he put up 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. He has been the Hornets’ most consistent big man this season and with Hibbert now back, Clifford must find a way to get Spencer regular minutes.

Ramon Sessions

PG, Charlotte Hornets

Sessions didn’t play poorly necessarily, but he was largely ineffective. Like most games this season, Ramon played plenty of minutes as Kemba’s back-up but he didn’t make an impact on the game in a positive way.

Marco Belinelli

SG, Charlotte Hornets

Like Sessions, Belinelli didn’t play badly, but he didn’t do much to change the tide of the game. However, he did go 3-4 from long range which did give the team a small boost. With Jeremy Lamb set to return soon, Belinelli’s role with the second unit could change.

Frank Kaminsky

D, Charlotte Hornets

Kaminsky’s 1-6 shooting performance includes 0-3 from three, his one purported skill as a big man. Sunday was another underwhelming performance from the second-year big man, as he continues to be a drain on the Hornets both offensively and defensively.

Roy Hibbert

C, Charlotte Hornets

Hibbert played well but is still limited to about 12 minutes as he continues to work his way back from a knee injury. He had the best plus-minus of anybody coming off the Hornets’ bench at -3.

The Hornets travel to Minnesota on Tuesday, where the will look to get back on track against the young Timberwolves led by Karl-Anthony Towns.

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