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Charlotte Hornets: Kemba Takes Brooklyn

By John Woodcock

Feb 10, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford talks with guard Kemba Walker (15) during a timeout in the second half of the game against the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Charlotte beat Indiana, 117-95. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 10, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford talks with guard Kemba Walker (15) during a timeout in the second half of the game against the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Charlotte beat Indiana, 117-95. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Charlotte Hornets won their fifth straight to continue their run to solidify and improve their playoff positioning.

In all honesty, the Charlotte Hornets are supposed to beat the Brooklyn Nets in the year 2016. However that ignores the fact that the Nets have a lot of talent on the court that could conceivably wake up at any time. It also ignores the fact that the Hornets have an abysmal road record to this point in the season. So how did the Hornets beat the Nets 104-96 in Brooklyn last night?

The first item to point out is that Kemba Walker appears to be on one those hot streaks of his. He is scoring in the mid-twenties in each game after the All Star Break. Walker scored twenty-eight in the game, but twelve came in the pivotal third quarter. He also hit a dagger with a minute left to fight off the final Nets comeback. This all good Walker stuff.

The difference between this game and the last one was the resurgence of Nicolas Batum. This was the first game where Batum played alongside Courtney Lee and the initial returns are promising. Batum played a complete game unlike his showing against the Bucks. Sixteen points, seven rebounds, and eight assists are the numbers you like to see from the Frenchman.

The front court gave no masterful Codysaurus performance like the Bucks game as Zeller only scored ten points. That was alleviated though from a near double-double by Marvin Williams in his return to the power forward spot (9 points 12 rebounds) and by Al Jefferson off the bench. Jefferson put in eighteen points in about the same number of minutes that he played against the Bucks.

Jeremy Lin chipped in eleven points off the bench, which was more than the deciding margin. The Hornets are again relying on different players to pick up the slack. Tonight it was Lin, against the Bucks it was Jeremy Lamb.

Next: Shorthanded Win Over Bucks

The Hornets are tied with the Bulls in the Eastern Conference standings for the 7th and 8th spots with a tiebreaker putting them in 7th. Atlanta and Indiana are only a game away in the standings. The East continues to be wide open.

The Hornets continue their road trip with a visit to Cleveland to see the new look (Channing Frye) Cavaliers on February 24th.

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