Turnovers Doom the Charlotte Hornets in Loss to the Wizards

The Charlotte Hornets played uncharacteristically against the Washington Wizards in what would be the team’s third straight loss.

The Charlotte Hornets (14-12) were defeated by the Washington Wizards (10-14) as they dropped their third straight game. Uncharacteristic turnovers led to the eventual downfall away from home as the Hornets beat themselves up in this one. Charlotte is now 0-3 on their current five-game road trip. John Wall led Washington to their third straight win at the Verizon Center.

This was the first game that the Hornets were healthy (no one on the injury report) in some time. Despite having everyone available to play, they still struggled and lost yet another game on the road. They are now 6-6 away from home after starting the year 4-1.

Turning Point

The third quarter is usually a turning point in the game for Charlotte as they take control of most games this season after halftime. Instead, the Wizards did just that this time around. Washington trailed by as much as 10 points in the third but a 19-3 run helped them outscore the Hornets 38-23 in the period. After being down by double-digits in the quarter, the home team took a 10 point lead into the fourth and never looked back as they didn’t relinquish their lead even when the game got close down the stretch. To add insult to injury, Charlotte had seven turnovers in the third quarter as they were beating themselves.

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Nicolas Batum led the Hornets with a team-high 20 points to go along with eight assists and five rebounds. Cody Zeller added 18 points while Kemba Walker had an all-around game with 17 points, nine assists, and six boards. Marco Belinelli continued to be a factor off the bench with 16 points on 4-6 shooting from the three-point line.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Frank Kaminsky rounded out the double-figure scorers from Charlotte as they scored 11 and 10 points respectively. Marvin Williams was the lowest scoring starter with only four points in 26 minutes of game action.

The Wizards were led by John Wall who scored a game-high 25 points. He completely filled the stat sheet with 10 assists, six rebounds, eight turnovers, and seven steals. Washington’s star point guard became the franchises’ all-time leader in steals in this one.

Bradley Beal chipped in with a near double-double of 20 points and nine assists. Marcin Gortat scored 16 points and grabbed 12 boards on the night. Kelly Oubre finished with 15 points and six rebounds to help out his team.

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With the loss, the Hornets drop to 0-1 on the season series against the Wizards. The two sides will meet a total of four times this season with their next matchup coming in January.

In their next game, the Charlotte Hornets will stay on the road as they take on the Boston Celtics. It will be the fourth game of their five-game road trip that can’t seem to come to an end soon enough. After losing their first three games away from home on this trip, Steve Clifford’s side is in desperate need of a win to bounce back and get things going in the right direction.