Charlotte Hornets: Take One From Westbrook, Need More
The Charlotte Hornets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 113-101 in a msut-win game to win their first victory in the state of Oklahoma.
The Charlotte Hornets did it again. Pulling together their roster, they took on a Western Conference foe and defeated them to keep their playoff chances alive. Instead of the Denver Nuggets, this was the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder had previously been unbeaten at home against the Bobcats-Hornets franchise, but that was before yesterday.
The first topic of any Thunder game has to be Russell Westbrook. He was the star of the game, but he did not prevail in the final score. Westbrook had forty points, thirteen rebounds, and ten assists to get ever closer to Oscar Robertson’s record for triple-doubles in a season. He has been amazing this season (as has James Harden of Houston), but one has to wonder if Westbrook will only be part of a title contender again when paired with a great post player. Robertson needed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to win a title.
Enough with the perfunctory Westbrook mention, this game was about the Hornets winning, not Westbrook failing to pull his team over the hump with his stats. With that mind we have to look at the scoring pattern. That story has to start with Kemba Walker. The star point guard is once again pulling out all the stops for the team. He scored twenty-nine including going 50% from the three point line. What is even better about this performance is that it came against Westbrook’s praised defense.
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However, like Westbrook, Walker cannot win games by himself. He would have lost the duel with Westbrook by eleven without the rest of the team. Instead there was a 113-101 win. The slack got picked up in this game by some bench players. Frank Kaminsky enjoyed another big game with eighteen and 60% from the three point line. Former Thunder member Jeremy Lamb stepped up instead of the Marco Belinelli performance we have come to expect. He score thirteen.
Non-shooters also got in on the act. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had the dual challenge of tracking Westbrook and finding sixteen points of his own. He and Cody Zeller (eleven points) found opportunities in the post as the Thunder had track Walker on defense.
In the end it took a team effort to deny Westbrook. Everybody did something positive to make that happen. The Hornets now find themselves a game out of eighth place where the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers are currently tied. The Bulls are just a game further up in seventh. The Hornets will take their game-by-game to their biggest challenge yet, a road matchup against the Washington Wizards.