CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Gordon Hayward’s $120 million contract looked like money well spent Monday.
Hayward scored 28 points in the first half — the highest-scoring half of his 11-season NBA career — in leading the Charlotte Hornets to a 109-88 home victory over the New York Knicks.
This was the 6-5 Hornets’ fourth consecutive victory, something they didn’t achieve at any time last season. The last four-game win streak was late in the 2018-19 season, when the Hornets just missed the playoffs.
Hayward finished with 34 points. After opting out of the last $34 million season on his contract with the Boston Celtics, Hayward agreed to come to Charlotte in arguably the biggest free-agent signing in franchise history.
The Hornets (6-5) looked sharp from tipoff Monday, committing just two first-half turnovers and opening a lead of as many as 17 points.
Devonte Graham added a season-high 19 points and added seven assists.
Observations off the game:
------
Hayward’s 28 first-half points were achieved with a series of herky-jerky dribbles into the lane, creating space for pull-ups and layups. He took only two 3-pointers, making both.
All this mid-range shots run counter to NBA trends on shot value, where the vast majority of attempts should either be 3s or at the rim. However, what was so efficient by any metric was Hayward earning 10 trips to the foul line and making them all.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Early in his career, with the Utah Jazz, Hayward would average about six free throws per game. He averaged about half that the past two seasons with the Boston Celtics.
------
The Hornets went the first 15 minutes of this game without committing a turnover until Cody Martin gave the ball away in the second quarter. An errant bounce pass by Devonte Graham was Charlotte’s only other turnover before halftime.
That is a departure from the preseason, when it seemed a given they give up the ball 20 times in a game.
Hornets coach James Borrego talked pre-game about how much his team’s defense has improved over the first 10 games, but also how important it is they don’t allow a slew of live-ball turnovers to create easy scoring opportunities for opponents.
Borrego believes the Hornets can be one of the NBA’s best half-court defensive teams, but that’s dependent on avoiding foolish and frequent turnovers.
------
Late in the third quarter, the Hornets’ top rebounders were guards LaMelo Ball, with 10, and Terry Rozier, with five. It’s great the guards understand they must help on the boards, and Ball’s rebounding has been an advantage all season.
However, when big men Bismack Biyombo, P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges combine for six boards over three quarters, that’s a problem.
Ball finished with 14 rebounds, two short of the most by any Hornet this season.
------
Coach James Borrego never planned to play a 10-man rotation for the long haul this season. He has played Malik Monk in only one game and Jalen McDaniels dropped out of the mix four games ago. Caleb and Cody Martin still play, but in limited stints.
Part of that is about finding starter’s minutes for rookie Ball off the bench without cutting into the starting backcourt of Rozier and Graham.
------
Charlotte’s starters have had a string of bad stints opening games. Monday was a nice departure from that, with the Hornets taking a double-digit lead almost immediately.
A lot of that was defense: The Knicks (5-6) missed nine of their first 10 shots. Also, Graham, who has had shooting struggles this season, made his first two attempts from the field and looked confident and composed.
