CHARLOTTE — With just one win in their past 17 games, the Charlotte Hornets may have hit rock bottom.
A barrage of injuries, a lack of roster depth and an 8-29 record have dropped the team to 13th in the Eastern Conference standings.
Returning after a 20-game absence from his most recent ankle injury, LaMelo Ball had 28 points, five assists and five steals against the Spurs last Friday.
Even with their star point guard back in the lineup, the Hornets lost by 36 points.
Two days later, Charlotte lost its fifth straight as the Heat cruised to a 104-87 win Sunday night in Miami. While Terry Rozier, Miles Bridges and Ball all eclipsed 20 points in the game, Charlotte still scored its fewest points (87) in nearly a month.
“We just didn’t shoot the ball well,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said after the Hornets’ loss.
“The bigger part of tonight is that when the ball’s not coming, we have to keep defending because we may not have scored. In the last three games, we haven’t defended anywhere near the level that we were, and that’s what we have to get back to. Right now, we’re just so reliant on those three guys to score. We need Brandon (Miller) and we need Gordon (Hayward). We have to have more guys out there that can put pressure on the defense consistently.”
Charlotte’s 21.6% winning percentage this season currently ranks as the second lowest in franchise history, only topping the 10.6% rate of the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats. The Hornets have struggled at both ends of the court, ranking 28th in points scored (108.9) and 25th in points allowed (120.5).
“Sometimes we’re great on defense and sometimes we’re terrible,” Bridges said. “We’ve just got to play the same every time and have a true identity. I feel like our identity changes every game, so we’ve got to just stick to our identity and have that be us.”
Nearly every prominent Hornets player has battled an injury this season, with Miller (back), Hayward (calf) and second-year center Mark Williams (back) the latest players out of the lineup.
The unpredictable lineup from night to night has made it difficult for Charlotte to get into a rhythm.
“It’s tough, it’s tough,” Rozier said. “I ain’t even going to act like it’s not. It sucks because we are all brothers, and we’ve got a great locker room and we haven’t been at our full strength all season. And then especially when you want to turn things around. We owe it to the city and fans, and it’s just unfortunate the situation we’ve been in.”
The Hornets entered this season hoping to snap a seven-year NBA playoff drought.
Charlotte had reached the NBA play-in tournament in 2021 and 2022 but suffered blowout losses to Indiana and Atlanta. Any chance of returning to even a play-in game already seems far-fetched despite more than half of the regular season remaining.
The Hornets are now likely playing for pride and the opportunity to give their young players a chance to improve and see where everyone fits for the future.
There have been some positive developments.
Miller has impressed in his rookie year, averaging 13.9 points and shooting 37.6% from 3-point range. When healthy, Ball and Rozier can both take over a game with their offensive skills. And although he has been sidelined for more than a month with a back injury, Williams has the potential to be the Hornets’ center for years to come.
It still looks like the Hornets and their fans are resigned to another lost season with their eyes set on making improvements during the summer via the draft and free agency.
