Late 3rd-Quarter Run by Milwaukee, Inefficient Rim Shooting Lead to Charlotte Loss
The second trip of the month to Milwaukee for the Charlotte Hornets didn’t end with the same successful result as the first, but they still gave the hometown Bucks all they could muster plus saw star point guard LaMelo Ball make history in a 124-115 loss on Tuesday night.
Ball stuffed the final box score with 27 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and a career-high three blocks for his eighth career triple-double, moving him past Anthony Mason for the franchise’s all-time lead. With this performance, he also became the 14th player in NBA history to record a 25-10-10-3-3 statline, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Chris Webber, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ben Simmons and Nikola Jokić.
Down four with about three minutes remaining in the third, Milwaukee rolled off a quarter-closing 16-5 run – with Khris Middleton accounting for 11 Bucks points over this span – to open up a 97-90 lead. The hosts would push the advantage to 17 by the 7:13 mark of the fourth, but the Hornets retaliated with a 16-4 stretch to get within five. Charlotte’s comeback efforts ran out of gas with a minute left though, after Jalen McDaniels’ missed second-chance corner 3-point attempt was scooped up Wes Matthews to essentially close the door on the Hornets.
Charlotte ended up shooting just 37.8% from the field, which included 18 missed shots at the rim (20-of-38; 52.6%) and an overall 24-of-53 clip inside the paint (45.3%). The Bucks were actually only slightly better in this latter area (49.0%), while draining 15-of-44 3-point attempts (34.1%).
“We’ve played them three times now,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards. “The game we won [on Jan. 6], we made good decisions at the rim. The two games where they beat us (Dec. 3 and tonight), they had eight blocks [in each]. To me, that’s the difference in the game. We put up very little resistance there. That’s their strength. That’s what their defense is built around. It was a big emphasis going in and we didn’t go a good job with that.”
When asked about Ball’s triple-double showing, Clifford added, “All I know is that he’s young and has the right attitude and approach to get better and better. He’s just beginning. It’s not just what he’s done – it’s his whole approach about learning, about getting better, playing better, what do I have to do and that’s the best thing about him.”
In addition to Ball, Terry Rozier (20 points), Gordon Hayward (16), PJ Washington (14), McDaniels (15) and Mason Plumlee (14) scored in double figures for Charlotte, with Plumlee snagging a team-high 14 rebounds for his career-high 20th double-double of the season.
On the Milwaukee side, Giannis Antetokounmpo notched game highs in points (34 on 14-of-24 shooting) and rebounds (18) to go along with four assists in 35 minutes of play. Jrue Holiday also double-doubled with 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while Middleton added 18 points off the bench and Brook Lopez went for eight points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.
The Hornets will now open up an all-road back-to-back against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, Feb. 2 beginning at 8 PM ET. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.
