Hornets save their sting for fourth
Charlotte hits eight of 10 three-attempts in a 44-point final frame to steal a win from the Raptors and end six-game streak
It was a trip from the sublime to the ridiculous in the time it took to play a half of NBA basketball, a disjointed and disappointing journey as the Toronto Raptors saw a six-game winning streak come to a crashing halt on Wednesday night.
Adominant third quarter — when Jonas Valanciunas did his best Dikembe Mutombo finger-wagging impression after two of three blocked shots — gave way to a crazy fourth quarter where no matter what the Raptors did, they could not stop the torrid-shooting Charlotte Hornets.
Held to just 16 points on 22 per cent shooting in the third, Charlotte exploded for 44 fourth-quarter points, including eight three-pointers in 10 attempts, in a 110-106 victory over Toronto at the Air Canada Centre.
“We’ve got to understand when we play great defence like that, every team in this league is going to understand they have to pick it up, especially if they’ve got any quarters left,” DeMar DeRozan said of the shocking Hornets turnaround. “The game is not over till it’s over. We can’t be satisfied with having a big third quarter.”
The loss derailed Toronto’s hoped-for march to third place in the Eastern Conference and slowed their inexorable move toward clinching home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Their magic number for clinching at least fourth and home court still stands at two over the Atlanta Hawks. It will be at least Friday before the Raptors can take their next step toward the post-season.
But between now and the playoff opener, there remains work to be done. While Toronto was markedly better defensively Wednesday than they were in a Monday win over Orlando, issues did arise.
The Hornets lit them up for 16-for-32 shooting from three-point range and, while some of them were ridiculous, too many were uncontested looks.
“I can’t see how we lost this game,” P.J. Tucker said. “There’s no excuse for us coming out and playing like that. We got to be better.”
The game got interesting in the final minute.
Norm Powell split two free throws with 57 seconds left to pull the Raptors into a tie but Kemba Walker — struggling through a 7-for-25 night from the field — drilled a threepointer with 37.5 seconds left to put Charlotte ahead.
DeMar DeRozan’s two free throws made it a one-point game but a Marvin Williams three-pointer with 8.7 seconds left was the dagger.
“Every time we scored, they came back and answered with a big shot,” DeRozan said. “Before all that, we gave up entirely too many points, that was on us. (But) you’ve got to give them credit. They hit big shots late in the game.”
DeRozan had 26 points and Cory Joseph 18 for the Raptors while Marco Belinelli led Charlotte with 21. Walker had 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter.
The most pleasing sign for Toronto had to be a dominant third quarter Valanciunas — nine points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots and finger wags after two of them. It was kind of defensive quarter they will need more regularly with the NBA playoffs approaching.
And while Serge Ibaka fighting foul trouble had a bit to do with it, Valanciunas was on the floor in crunch time down the stretch.