Foul Problems Plague Hornets In Home-Opening Loss To Pelicans

A major point of emphasis for the Charlotte Hornets going into their home opener against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night was getting off to a good start. “The first quarter is a big part of winning in our league,” said Head Coach Steve Clifford prior to the game. Things didn’t go as planned though with the Hornets trailing big early on in an eventual 124-112 defeat.

Gordon Hayward (26 points on 12-of-19 shooting) and Terry Rozier (23 points) both crossed the 20-point plateau for Charlotte in the loss, with Rozier adding team bests in rebounding (8) and assists (career-high-tying 11) for his first double-double of the campaign.

Charlotte committed six first-quarter turnovers – most of which were unforced, in the backcourt or both – leading to 15 Pelicans points and a 35-24 deficit after the opening frame. The Hornets steadied the ship after that though, later on pulling to within two with 6:44 left on the game clock. However, back-to-back momentum-swinging and-1 possessions kicked off a 14-4 New Orleans run that closed the door for good on the Hornets’ comeback efforts.

“We had guys wide open, just gave the point guard the ball,” said Clifford afterwards. “We had two of those that were not okay. That’s careless. If you’re going to turn the ball over in those situations, you’re going to play from behind. We did a good job getting back in it, but the bigger thing was the fouling. Just undisciplined basketball. I don’t care if it’s the second game of the year – you’ve got to call it what it is. That’s what I just told the guys. We played hard. (The Pelicans are) good, obviously. We played well, we were right there.”

New Orleans found itself in the bonus midway through every quarter except the second and finished with 37 free-throw attempts, which would have been a season high for a Charlotte opponent in a non-overtime game last season. The Pelicans converted 32 of their freebies (87%), while the hosts went just 11-of-14 from the charity stripe (79%). 

Charlotte had no answers for the Pelicans’ Jonas Valančiūnas, who finished with game highs in both points (30) and rebounds (17). The colossal Lithuanian center went 13-of-14 from the free-throw line, marking his most attempts in a game since March 20, 2019. Brandon Ingram (28 points), CJ McCollum (21) and Zion Williamson (16) were all in double figures, as well.

“They have really talented scorers that know how to get to the line,” stated Hayward. “Valančiūnas is really tricky with the ball and how he moves it. He’s a big guy too, so once he gets down there, we need to do a better job of not letting him catch it. He’s a beast, but some of [the fouls] were just silly. We’re reaching. Our hands are down or in their pockets and they’re just coming straight through. Those are easy calls for the refs. It’s something to learn from for sure. They took advantage of it.”

The Hornets will now begin a three-game road stretch starting with the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 5 PM ET. Follow the action on Bally Sports Southeast and 92.7 FM WFNZ.