Charlotte Hornets vs. Philadelphia 76ers Recap

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Tonight the Philadelphia 76ers took on the Charlotte Hornets in Charlotte in their 76th game of the year. This was actually the third time in their history that the Hornets played the 76ers on their 76th game of the year. Sure this game had no playoff implications, but who doesn’t enjoy a good, close game?

First quarter

The game was a defensive battle at first. Both teams were playing impressive interior defense, making it tough for either offense to score. As the first quarter progressed, Hornets point guard Kemba Walker began to heat up, scoring seven straight points. On the other side, Ish Smith acted as a spark plug for the Sixers offense, providing three assists and two points, though he only shot 16% percent. When the Hornets offense was not being run through Walker, the whole thing seemed to break down. Players were settling for bad looks, leading to a lot of wasted possessions for Charlotte. The Sixers offense was able to hit a couple shots around the perimeter, taking advantage of the Hornets porous perimeter defense. Bismack Biyombo had a big impact for the Hornets on the boards in the later part of the second half, recording five rebounds to go along with two blocks.

Second quarter

The second quarter gave us a good look at the second unit of both teams. The Hornets second unit was playing well at first but began to deteriorate as time went on. The Sixers second unit is not much different than their first, as most players on their team get equal playing time due to the untalented roster that they have. However, in the second quarter the Sixers were shooting very efficiently. They took advantage of every opportunity and began to build up a solid lead. For the Hornets, big offseason acquisition Lance Stephenson did more harm than good, whether it be missing shots or turning the ball over. Mo Williams provided good ball movement for the Hornets but didn’t shoot well. Luckily, rookie power forward Noah Vonleh was there to pick up the slack. Vonleh had four points and six rebounds, including a giant poster dunk off of an offensive rebound. Unfortunately for the Sixers, in doing this Vonleh elbowed fellow star rookie Nerlens Noel, sending him to the locker room with a bloody eye. It was easy to see that Noel’s absence made it easier for the Hornets to score all over the floor. On offense though, the Sixers were as productive as ever, building themselves a lead as big as eight. Luckily, thanks to a couple good plays from Mo Williams towards the end of the half, the Hornets were able to cut it down to a two point deficit. The score at half was 51-49 in favor of the 76ers.

Third quarter

The beginning of the third quarter was marked by tough, physical defense from both teams, although for the Sixers that equated to many fouls. This allowed the Hornets to start off the third quarter with a few easy points. Kemba Walker was playing like a true point guard. He was running the offense and making sure the big men got their looks down low to take advantage of the Sixers porous paint defense. Biyombo in particular was playing around with the Sixers bigs like it was nothing. It appeared as though the Hornets nonstop barrage in the paint was tiring Philadelphia out, especially with Mo Williams seemingly cutting through their perimeter defense on every play. However, Philly’s offense was able to pick it up towards the end of the third, keeping the game close enough to keep the Sixers in the game.

Fourth quarter

The fourth quarter featured a lot of something that we had seen all game; Williams shooting in an underwhelming fashion. It also featured more of what we had seen in the first quarter from Noah Vonleh. The Sixers kept their offense going. It seemed for a while as if they couldn’t miss. They were getting every single rebound and draining almost every three pointer they took. Luckily for the Hornets, Kemba Walker was nailing all of his shots on his way to a 24 point night. They were pushing the tempo and keeping to fast paced to make sure that they never fell too far behind the Sixers. Eventually, that tempo allowed them to take the lead after the Sixers finally missed a couple of shots. Ish Smith was able to hit a clutch three pointer to put the Sixers up by one late in the fourth. Smith also came up huge with a block late to prevent the Hornets from taking the lead. Unfortunately, with a chance to go up by four points with under a minute left, Smith missed both free throws leaving the lead at two. Hornets shooting guard Gerald Henderson had a bad night shooting, ending with only seven points on 25 percent shooting. However, with only six seconds left in the game, Henderson penetrated the Sixers’ defense and scooped in a layup to give the Hornets the lead. That layup proved to be the deciding factor in the game as the Hornets ended up winning 92-91