All Hornets

Cavs top Hornets in LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller's return to the floor

The Charlotte Hornets' losing streak has reached ten games.

Schuyler Callihan

David Richard-Imagn Images
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Sunday evening, the Charlotte Hornets' losing streak extended to 10 games as they fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-105. Despite the return of LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, the Hornets didn't have enough offensively to keep pace with the red-hot Cavs in the first half.

Best of the night: The starting five

The group as a whole didn't play well enough to win the game, but it was nice for the Hornets to have all five starters healthy and sharing the floor together. Head coach Charles Lee hasn't had his entire starting lineup available except for just a few games, so this is a pretty big deal. Lee and Jeff Peterson need to see this bunch together for an extended period to truly evaluate what they have/don't have and to see how far off they really are from being a contender in the East. Going up against the best team in the league is a tough evaluation, so we'll see if they can string some wins together in the weeks ahead.

Worst of the night: Turnovers

The Cavaliers were a little sloppy with the ball as well, but you just simply can't turn it over 16 times against the best team in the league and expect to have a chance to win. Some of the turnovers were careless and ones that could have been avoided. This has been a problem of Charlotte's all season long as they rank 23rd in the league in turnovers per game (16.1). When you struggle to make shots, you have to put an even bigger emphasis on taking care of the rock.

Stat of the night: Melo and Miller's efficient return

After missing the last handful of games with an ankle injury, Brandon Miller showed very little rust, if any. He finished the night with 24 points on 8/14 shooting, including going 6/10 from three-point range. LaMelo Ball had a decent night in his return as well, with 24 points, but he wasn't as sharp shooting the ball, going 7/20.

Highlight of the night:

Next up

The Hornets will return home for one game before heading out on a five-game road trip. They'll take on the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday at 7 p.m. EST.

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Schuyler Callihan
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN

schuylercallihan(at)gmail.com  Twitter:@Callihan_ Schuyler Callihan is the lead publisher of Mountaineers Now, All Panthers, and All Hornets on FanNation/Sports Illustrated. He took over publishing duties of All Panthers in 2020 and wanted to expand his professional coverage in the Queen City by running the operations at All Hornets. Schuyler attended Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia before finishing up his schooling at Alamance Community College in Graham, North Carolina. The Wheeling, West Virginia native made the move to North Carolina in 2015 and has been in Charlotte since 2021.

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