CHARLOTTE — A lot can change for a team in just three weeks.
In late November, star point guard LaMelo Ball was playing the best basketball of his career as things were starting to finally click for the Charlotte Hornets, who had just beaten the Celtics and Wizards, when Ball went down with a right ankle sprain.
Nine games and seven losses later, the Hornets (7-17) have spiraled into an unprecedented pit, suffering their worst margin of defeat (53) in franchise history on Friday night as Joel Embiid and the 76ers handed Charlotte a 135-82 loss at Spectrum Center.
Embiid feasted on the undermanned Hornets, racking up 42 points (on 78% shooting) to go along with 15 rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocks.
To make matters worse, injuries have begun to mount for Charlotte, and the return timelines for Ball, Mark Williams (back), P.J. Washington (shoulder) and Cody Martin (knee) all remain unclear. Martin is out indefinitely, while Ball might not return till January. Williams and Washington are both day-to-day with a chance of coming back by Christmas.
With two weeks of games against playoff-caliber talent up next, the Hornets are now 10 games under .500 and with no relief in sight.
“One thing about the NBA, you tell them the truth. Look, we’ve got to get our guys back,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said after his team’s blowout loss to Philadelphia. “It’s a brutal stretch over the next two weeks. I mean, there’s no easy weeks in this league, but if you look at the upcoming schedule, it’s going to be hard. We’re not sure when those guys will come back.”
The Hornets have Indiana, Denver, the Clippers, Lakers and Phoenix — all over .500 — to close out the calendar year.
Clifford needs to navigate Charlotte before things get even worse: The Hornets have fallen to 13th out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference.
“We’ve got to find a way to win enough so that when we get everybody in full strength and then a little time to get a game together, that we’re not too far out,” Clifford said. “And right now, we’re not. So much of your record — and this is every year — depends on how good the East is. Right now this year, the East is brutal. If you can get close to .500, I bet you that’ll be good enough to get in.”
While Terry Rozier has scored a career-best 23.1 points per game and Hornets’ No. 2 overall draft pick Brandon Miller (14.8 points and 4.1 rebounds) has performed well, Charlotte’s trajectory after Ball’s latest ankle injury has plummeted.
Charlotte’s opponents have scored at least 111 points in all nine games since Ball’s injury.
With an average of 111.5 points scored (23rd in the league) and 121 points surrendered (26th), Charlotte hasn’t been getting done on either side of the ball.
Clifford believes there is still value and perspective to be gained from the current situation.
“I think there’ll be things that we can learn from the film that will help — little things, execution things,” he said. “The overall story of the game would be more about the guys that didn’t play than did, I would say. There’s always things you can learn from a game.”
On a positive note, Charlotte’s core is nearly locked in with Ball, Miller, Williams and (possibly) Miles Bridges.
Rozier and Gordon Hayward, meanwhile, could be shopped in the not-so-distant future to allow younger players more reps at shooting guard and small forward, respectively.
The key in assessing the roster will be first getting everyone back healthy.
Now in his fourth year, Ball has had just one season during which he’s managed to stay on the court for more than 60 games. Ball is said to be considering protective ankle braces — a safety measure that he has voiced his displeasure with — to keep himself healthy.
Without him, the Hornets may continue its fall into the bottom of the NBA standings.
