Charlotte Hornets lose heartbreaker to Brooklyn Nets 98-94

Charlotte Hornets can not hold onto fourth quarter lead as game slips away

Up 12 with six minutes and thirty seconds left things were finally looking up for the Hornets. Then Kevin Durant entered the game. Prior to that moment the team had held Durant to 7-15 shooting for 16 points, one assist, and -3. in the proceeding six minutes the script was flipped and the superstar began to take over. This culminated in a 21-7 run that closed out the game and ended with the Hornets tallying their sixth loss in seven games. 

After one quarter of play the team had carried over their lack of physicality from last game en route to being outscored 16-4 in the paint and losing the rebound battle again. Terry Rozier and PJ Washington led the team by scoring 14 of the first 21 points. The rest of the team combined for 2-11 from the field totaling 7 points.  

An early injury to Dennis Smith Jr derailed the hopes of a healthy backcourt for the Hornets. This led to James Bouknight tying a career high in minutes of 29 minutes. His play was up and down to be kind. A highlight worthy block and veteran level cut were juxtaposed with questionable turnovers and lackluster defensive awareness. Starting his sophomore year this has been the story of his young career, doing just enough to keep coaches and fans alike tantalized while also making it impossible to ignore his glaring deficiencies. 

Entering halftime the Hornets were shooting 8-16 from 3 but only 6-10 from the line. On the defensive end the team did not generate a single steal and only had three fast break points while giving up the ball nine times. With a team featuring this many deficiencies on offense there is zero wiggle room to sacrifice easy points. These problems culminated at the end of the game where the Hornets allowed multiple offensive rebounds that let the Nets slip into a tight four point win.