Back at home, the Nuggets know that scoreboard watching isn’t going to get them where they want to go – only wins will. They looked forward to a four-game homestand to help cement that position.
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What they found at the Pepsi Center, was a crisp Charlotte Hornets team so dialed in on both ends of the court that it would have taken a near perfect game to beat them.
The Nuggets didn’t have a perfect game.
Their 112-102 loss to Charlotte was rooted in a game in which the Hornets performed with an edge all night long that the Nuggets just couldn’t match. Charlotte was crisp on offense and stingy on defense. And the Hornets made shots lots of them. From all over the court. The 3-point line hurt the Nuggets most. Charlotte made 16-of-27 from the arc, and trading threes for twos wasn’t a winning formula for the Nuggets.
The Nuggets tried to combat the Hornets shot making with free throws. They Nuggets steadily marched to the charity stripe, making 21-of-25, but the inability to get stops on the defensive end proved too much for them to overcome.
Too many Hornets had solid nights, including recently signed Johnny O’Bryant, who had two 10-day contracts with the Nuggets this season. He came off the bench to score 15 points with six rebounds in 16 minutes.
The loss is the Nuggets second straight at home and sets up an important game against the Kings on Tuesday (AEDT).
In the fourth the Nuggets found some energy, got a few defensive stops, and cut the lead to as little as four. But that was it. The Hornets outscored the Nuggets for the fourth straight quarter and won by 10.
