Charlotte Hornets: 5 Keys To Turning The Series Around

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Apr 20, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker (15) shoots the ball over Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside (21) in game two of the first round of the NBA Playoffs during the fourth quarter at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 115-103. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Taking More Threes

Through the first two games of this series, the Hornets have gone 7-for-33 from three-point territory (21.2 percent). During the regular season, they ranked seventh in the league in three-point percentage, converting 36.2 percent of their long range attempts.

In Game 1 Charlotte’s perimeter attack was fairly efficient, with the Hornets going 6-for-17 from downtown (35.2 percent). But in Game 2, they shot an atrocious 1-for-16 from long range (6.3 percent), with Kemba Walker (1-for-6) supplying the only make. Simply put, the Hornets have got to be the efficient three-point shooting team they’ve been all season long.

It’s not just their efficiency that needs work, however. For a team that averaged 29.4 three-point attempts per game during the regular season — ranking them fourth in the NBA — the Hornets have taken 33 total through the first two games.

Hornets are now 7-of-33 from three in the first two games. Attempts are just as important there. They take almost 30 a game.
— Couper Moorhead (@CoupNBA) April 21, 2016

Give credit where credit is due: Miami’s defense has been spectacular in keeping them off the three-point line. During the regular season, 17.8 percent of Charlotte’s field goal attempts were three-pointers that NBA.com classifies as “open” (nearest defender being 4-6 feet away) or “wide open” (6+ feet away), and the Hornets shot 37.9 percent on those looks.

In the playoffs, that frequency has plummeted to 11 percent, with the Hornets converting only two of those 17 more favorable looks (11.8 percent). Miami’s smaller, wing-heavy lineups have allowed them to close out on the perimeter shooters and limit their open looks on the perimeter.

But the Hornets making just two of 17 attempts that are pretty wide open signifies a simple two-game lapse in shooting efficiency. In fact, Charlotte has been better when tightly guarded (5-for-16, or 31.3 percent) than it has when the open looks have come. That has to change for the rest of the series, with the Hornets looking more like the dangerous three-point shooting team they were for most of the regular season.

Next: No. 3