National Basketball Association

The Charlotte Hornets Fall to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Preseason Finale

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

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The Charlotte Hornets were blown out on the road by the Minnesota Timberwolves in their seventh and final preseason game.

VS.

	1	2	3	4	T
Timberwolves	30	31	31	17	109
Hornets	25	19	12	18	74

The Charlotte Hornets were defeated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in blowout fashion in their preseason finale. Minnesota gets their revenge for an earlier loss to the Hornets this preseason as they snapped Charlotte’s three game win streak. This match was a blowout for more than half of the game and it was hardly competitive as Steve Clifford rested many of his key players.

The Hornets were without Marvin Williams, Spencer Hawes, Nicolas Batum, Cody Zeller, and Brian Roberts as they didn’t make the trip with the team. Kemba Walker, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Roy Hibbert were only used in a limited fashion. Considering all of this, a blowout was probably expected.

Frank Kaminsky went down with a foot injury in the first half. It was diagnosed as a sprained right foot but he did not return to the game. The cautious approach to his return is expected in the final preseason game before opening night. Hopefully, the injury isn’t serious and Frank will be good to by the start of the regular season.

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Marco Belinelli led Charlotte with 10 points as he was the only player fort he Hornets in double-digits. Kemba Walker was right behind him with nine points for the game. Jeremy Lamb and Mike Tobey each scored eight points in this one.

One surprising stat was Lamb leading the team with nine rebounds. Roy Hibbert recorded four blocks in only 15 minutes of action. Treveon Graham also had four steals.

The Timberwolves were led by Shabazz Muhammad who scored a game-high 17 points. Karl-Anthony Towns and Zach LaVine added 15 points and KAT almost had a double-double with nine rebounds. Brandon Rush (14), Nemanja Bjelica (14), and Ricky Rubio (10) each were in double-digit scoring.

Everyone who traveled with the Hornets saw minutes in this one. All of the team’s starters played under 18 minutes. This was a good chance for the organization to get a close look at their fringe players on the roster ahead of the cuts that they will make to trim the roster to 15.

Highlight of the Night:

YARN GETTIN SZN pic.twitter.com/pa4vRZjXjI

— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) October 22, 2016

Not many highlights for Charlotte but KAT looked good for Minnesota.

Tweet of the Night:

At least the Hornets’ twitter account could make light of the situation at hand.

Quick Stings

This was Charlotte’s last preseason game of the year as they finished with a 3-4 record in exhibition games. After losing their first three, the team went on a three game win streak to give them confidence and momentum heading into the regular season. This loss doesn’t hurt that as the starters and key role players didn’t see much action.

The Charlotte Hornets will open the 2016-17 NBA regular season against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, October 26th. That will be an away game for the Queen City team but real action will be upon us. The triumphs and tribulations of an 82 game season will begin with their home opener coming on Saturday, October 29th against the Boston Celtics.

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