Charles Lee's first season as Charlotte Hornets head coach has reached a tipping point

Lee showed visible signs of frustration following Charlotte's loss to Houston.

Matt Alquiza | 12 Hours Ago

Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

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Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets were sent home with a lump of coal in their last game before Christmas. The Houston Rockets strolled into town with a Grinch-like mindset and treated Buzz City like Whoville on their way to a 114-101 victory that wasn't nearly as close as that final score suggests. So much for good tidings of comfort and joy this time of year - the Hornets are clearly uncomfortable and frustrated as the holidays near.

"Tonight is one of those nights where it's not about shooting, it's not about offense, it's about trying to impact winning. Trying to play hard and compete and be the team that we say we want to be. Be the team that I thought showed up at practice yesterday and is obsessed with daily improvement. I just feel like that first half wasn't really a depiction of who we are."

Those are the words of a visibly frustrated Charles Lee following another loss where his Hornets came out of the gate lackadaisical on offense and aloof on defense; a porous combination that leads to blowouts like they suffered on Monday evening.

Miles Bridges diagnosed the Hornets two-way struggles following the contest. "In the beginning of the season we were relying on our defense when our shots weren't falling. I feel like we've got away from that. We just have to get back to being a defensive team first, and then depend on our offense a little bit."

Neither side of the ball brings much to write home about for the Hornets as currently constructed. In their last seven games, six of them losses, the Hornets rank 28th in offensive rating and 23rd in defensive rating, good for a -10.0 overall net rating that sits 29th in the league, one spot ahead of the lowly Portland Trail Blazers.

A season that begun with oodles of promise with the premise of a healthy grouping of LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Mark Williams under the tutelage of wunderkind head coach Charles Lee has quickly spiraled into another lottery-bound campaign that has become the norm in Charlotte.

Charles Lee is clearly searching for answers as he fiddles with his rotations nightly as he tries to find a winning combination.

Eleven Hornets took the floor in another disappointing first quarter in which Charlotte dug an insurmountable hole. Isaiah Wong's first half minutes were taken by Seth Curry in the second half. Lee continues to throw stuff at the wall to see what sticks and he's having trouble finding an adhesive.

Postgame, Lee threw a subtle jab at some of his players when discussing effort levels.

“We’ve just got to play the guys that actually embody those things. Going forward, we’re going to do our best and everybody’s going to take a look in the mirror to figure out how we can be a little bit more like that group that was in the second half and scored 70 points and did a better job defending and having some physicality and contesting at the rim and rebounding andoffensively, sharing the ball. Just want to continue to have guys out there that embody the stuff that we talk about on a daily basis, just focus on us and try to impact winning at the highest level.”

The NBA calendar moves quickly. After a pair of off days for the holiday season Charlotte has another chance to redeem themselves against the Washington Wizards, and redemption needs to come quickly before another basketball season in Charlotte is lost before the new year.