The Trail Blazers on Sunday took a loss at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets. Nicolas Batum unleashed a huge performance in the win. The Hornets are now 5-5, the Blazers 4-7. Here’s the Columbian blog reporting:
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The Portland Trail Blazers lost their fifth straight game, extending their season-long losing streak, Sunday afternoon in Charlotte against the Hornets 106-94. Former Blazer Nicolas Batum led the Hornets with 33 points, six assists and five rebounds. Damian Lillard had 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the loss. Hornets shot just under 50 percent and had 29 assists as a team.
Terry Stotts changed up his starting line-up on Sunday against the Hornets. Against the prodding, more bruising Memphis Grizzlies, Stotts went with veteran big man Chris Kaman who to that point in the season had barely seen the floor. He played well, but against the small-ball styled Hornets, he went with second-year man Noah Vonleh at power forward.
The Blazers went to Vonleh on their first possession, where he airballed a shot off a post-up. The Blazers went to him again on the left block, this time it ended with a sweeping hook. We’ve not seen Vonleh get this much meaningful playing time or use so many possessions. He was called for a cheap foul on a lay-up and fumbled a few passes, but overall continued to stoke curiosity about what is there.
