Charlotte Hornets Stumble Down the Stretch in Overtime Loss to Minnesota
The Charlotte Hornets blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter as they eventually lost in overtime to the Minnesota Timberwolves at home.
VS.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT1 | T | |
| Hornets | 29 | 23 | 32 | 22 | 14 | 120 |
| Timberwolves | 19 | 30 | 25 | 32 | 19 | 125 |
The Charlotte Hornets (11-9) were defeated by the Minnesota Timberwolves (6-14) as they lost two games of their three-game homestand. After a hot start to the season, Charlotte’s only 3-6 in their last nine games. The young guns of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins led Minnesota to a comeback win in this one.
Marvin Williams has now missed the team’s last five games with a hyperextended left knee but there is some good news as he has returned to doing some on-court action. Steve Clifford also indicated that the Hornets’ starting power forward may be activated as early as Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons. After a few poor outings, his replacement, Frank Kaminsky, bounced back and had a productive game with 21 points and nine rebounds on the night.
Charlotte looked well-rested as they got out to a fast start as they had a 10 points lead after the first period. They spent most of the second and third quarters protecting their lead as Minnesota tried to keep it close. Tom Thibodeau’s side did a good job of that as they put all of their efforts into one final fourth quarter push. The Timberwolves started the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run to tie the game but the Hornets were able to weather the storm and came back with a 10-0 run of their own.
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The Hornets just couldn’t put the game away as Minnesota was always within reach. After some intense final minutes of action in regulation, the game went to overtime. While Charlotte led for the better part of the game and only trailed by two points once in regulation, the T-Wolves were the better team in the extra time as they led for the entirety of the overtime period. Charlotte has control of the game for most of the night but they somehow managed to not come out on top.
As a team who has lost their last four games and were on the second night of a back to back on the road, the Timberwolves showed great heart and energy in this one. For those reasons, this was Charlotte’s worst loss so far this season. They had a 10 point lead heading into the fourth and ended up blowing their lead. Tough loss but they will bounce back.
Kemba Walker led the way for the Hornets with 22 points and eight assists for the game. Nicolas Batum, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Marco Belinelli each chipped in 15 points in this one. Nic had a near triple-double with 12 assists and eight rebounds.
Andrew Wiggins scored a game-high 29 points to lead the T-Wolves while Karl-Anthony Towns added 27 points and 15 rebounds to his stat line. Zach LaVine scored 17 to help out his side.
Highlight of the Game:
Great hustle by @CodyZeller and @KembaWalker finishes it!!! #MINatCHA #BuzzCity pic.twitter.com/pnwO25HLmM
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) December 4, 2016
Tweet of the Game:
Quick Stings
With the loss, the Hornets drop to 1-1 on the season against the T-Wolves. That is how the seasons series will finish as this was the second and final meeting between the two sides this year. Each team won away from home which is a bit surprising considering how well Charlotte plays at the Spectrum Center.
In their next game, the Charlotte Hornets will hit the road for one game to take on the Dallas Mavericks. It will be a rematch of a game that took place just a few days ago in which the Queen City team took an ugly win over the Mavs at home. This will be the second and final meeting between these two teams this season. They will look to bounce back after this tough loss.
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