Gerald Henderson ‘oops on, swats Marcin Gortat as Hornets shut down Wizards
There’s this play that Steve Clifford likes to run when his Charlotte club, whether Bobcats or Hornets, is triggering an inbounds from the baseline under their opponents’ basket. Put Gerald Henderson in the paint next to a big on the block, have Henderson set a quick screen to spring the big across the lane, then have Henderson curl around a down screen from a teammate who’s just cut down from foul-line extended before heading into the paint and looking for a lob. It looks like this.
Clearly, the Washington Wizards weren’t ready for it on Thursday night, because Marcin Gortat found himself on the receiving end of an alley-oop facial:
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Here’s another look at Henderson absorbing the contact and finishing with authority:
Quiet as it’s kept, Henderson’s a pretty explosive and prolific highlight dunker; the 6-foot-5 Duke product has springs and power, and he knows how to use them.
That goes for the defensive end, too, where Henderson’s got the athleticism and timing to be able to help his big men protect the rim … as Gortat found out during the fourth quarter of a tight contest on Thursday:
When you remember Hendo reversing on Gortat a while back, you start to wonder whether he’s got some specific problem with the Polish Machine, or if he just wants to prove he’s the most powerful bald dude on the court at all times.
Not only was the small-on-big snuff-out of Gortat’s roll to the rim impressive, but, coming as it did on the heels of this big putback dunk by Al Jefferson:
… it added more fuel to the fire of a rollicking Hornets run that began late in the third quarter, erasing an 11-point Wizards lead and putting Charlotte back in control.
It started, as all good things for Charlotte in the Clifford era have, with defense. The Hornets held the Wizards to 15 points over the final 14 minutes of the game on Thursday, playing swarming team D that resulted in missed shots (6-for-21 from the field, 28.6 percent during that closing stretch) and a slew of Washington possessions busted up before they could result in a field-goal attempt, which was a running theme throughout the contest:
The Hornets finished with 15 blocks on Thursday, tied for the third-highest single-game total in the league this year and tied for the second-most in Bobcats/Hornets franchise history. Tack on five team steals and 12 Wizards turnovers, and you’ve got nearly as many scuttled Washington possessions (32) as ones ending in a made field goal (35). During that 14-minute stretch that swung the game, the math was even ghastlier for the Wizards — 14 combined blocks, steals and turnovers compared to just six makes.
With the Hornets flying around on defense, causing the Wizards to stagnate or just miss shots, depending on who you ask, and winning battles for loose balls, Charlotte outscored Washington 25-13 in the fourth quarter, holding on down the stretch for a 94-87 victory. The win improved Clifford’s club to 12-4 since Jan. 1 — the second-best mark in the East in 2015, behind only the conference-leading Atlanta Hawks.
Henderson led the way with a game-high 27 points on 10-for-15 shooting to go with four rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist in 35 1/2 minutes. Emerging wing Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was mostly quite, but got to the line eight times, scoring 11 points and adding six rebounds. Jefferson’s shot wasn’t falling for most of the evening, as Big Al missed nine of his 12 field-goal attempts, but he grabbed 10 boards and blocked three shots to contribute.
Lance Stephenson needed 11 shots to score 11 points, but he made three 3-pointers in eight tries, which is pretty good considering he’d made just nine in 66 attempts heading into Thursday. And Jason Maxiell — well, what can you say about the long-in-the-tooth-and-undersized reserve turning in 11 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks in less than 21 minutes of action? He was the hero of a hardfought, hustling Hornets win, one perfectly in keeping with the “play hard, don’t beat yourself and defend like your life depends on it” ethos that made the Bobcats a surprise playoff team a season ago and has gotten the Hornets back into the playoff chase this season — Charlotte’s now 22-27, good enough for seventh place in the East — after a dismal start.
The offense is still ugly as sin, especially without injured point guard Kemba Walker, averaging just 97.4 points per 100 possessions since New Year’s Day, but with the defense clamping down even tighter than it did a year ago — 92.6 points allowed per-100, best in the NBA in 2015 — juuuust enough scoring has been enough to get wins. On Thursday, for the second time this week, it was enough to beat the Wizards, who have dropped five in a row to fall to 31-20; Randy Wittman’s team now sits just a half-game above the No. 5 seed in the East.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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