No one will confuse the Charlotte Hornets with a battle-tested team known for hitting clutch shots to win games. That being said, it’s hard to imagine that their late-game woes have been as bad as this video would indicate. Nevertheless, this video is five minutes worth of futility over the last few seasons:
To be fair to Kemba Walker, he has been excellent down the stretch of games this season. He’s having the best season of his career, but the Hornets are only 9-9 on the season. Charlotte is 2-7 in “clutch” games this season, meaning games with a score margin of five points or less at any point in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter/overtime. The Hornets were 16-25 in those games last season and 22-29 the year before. Furthermore:
The Hornets are now 2-7 this year in games inside 3 points in the final minute.
Since 2016-17: 23-40.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) November 24, 2018
It’s clear that Charlotte just doesn’t have the talent around Kemba Walker needed to win. The lack of talent around Walker is a problem that has persisted for years.
The Hornets haven’t made the playoffs since the 2015-16 season, which was also their last winning season. Perhaps this is the season where that changes, but it looks like Walker will have to do most of the heavy lifting to ensure that happens.
The good news for Charlotte is that Kemba is averaging a ridiculous 28.7 points per game this season. The bad news is that only two other players are scoring in double figures — Jeremy Lamb and Malik Monk.
Walker has been good in late-game situations dating all the way back to his college days, but the Hornets will need more than one option when they need a bucket late. Otherwise, their futile efforts in clutch situations are likely to continue.
