After a comeback victory against Washington on Saturday, Feb. 6. the Hornets played their last home game before the all-star break on Monday, Jan. 8. against Chicago. Charlotte entered the matchup with a 2-1 advantage on the season against Chicago.
The Bulls received discomforting news shortly before game time. Starting point guard Derrick Rose was ruled out against Charlotte due to soreness. Chicago was also missing all-star small forward Jimmy Butler to a knee injury. With a depleted squad in Time Warner Cable Arena, the Hornets had a chance to get a much needed victory, before heading on the road for the next six games.
Charlotte started fast, taking the lead to open the game, and never looked back. The game opened with a 17-6 Hornets’ spurt. Finishing with 20 points on the night, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist started fast, scoring ten points in the first nine minutes. The Hornets were lead to victory from a 30-point effort from Kemba Walker. Walker recorded his eighth game of the year with at least 30 points. The all-star snub also recorded eight assists and seven rebounds.
Stat lines similar to this are starting to become a recurring theme for Walker. He’s now recorded at least five rebounds and at least five assists in six of his last ten games. Nic Batum is starting to get his game back together, after battling through multiple injuries during the month on January. Saturday against Washington, Batum finished one assist away from his second triple-double of the season. Monday night, Batum was two assists away from a triple-double, finishing with 19 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Matchup of the Game:
With both Rose and Butler out of Monday’s game, Chicago would look to rely heavily on the offensive production of Pau Gasol. This meant that Cody Zeller had to prepare his best defensive effort. For the most part, Gasol had his way on the offensive end, scoring 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting. The big man also collected 10 rebounds and dished out seven assists. On the other side, Zeller had a tough offensive night. Although efficient, Zeller didn’t attempt many shots, shooting 2-of-3 from the field, including one three pointer. Zeller finished with five points to go along with eight rebounds.
Player of the Game:
Kemba Waker had another elite performance on Monday night. With 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, Walker is proving every game why he should have been an all-star. With this magnificent performance, Walker passed Glen Rice for fourth all-time on the Hornets scoring list (5,651 points).
Charlotte is about to enter a very crucial stretch of the season. As we sit here today, the Hornets are a half game back from Detroit for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, at 26-26 on the season. Charlotte will play their next six games on the road against Eastern Conference teams. There is one last game before the all-star break on Wednesday, Feb. 10. on the road at Indiana. The Hornets will play the Pacers for the first time this season on Wednesday. Charlotte plays Indiana three times over the next two and a half weeks, and sits just two and a half games behind the sixth place Pacers. Just to put in perspective how tight the Eastern Conference race is: Charlotte is four games behind Boston, who is in third place. The Hornets are hot right now, winning seven of their last ten games. With a vital stretch of the schedule on the horizon, Charlotte could be poised to make serious noise in the Eastern Conference standings.