Hornets Fall Short Against Suns Despite Strong Performances
For three quarters in Phoenix, Charlotte did enough to survive its own chaos. In the fourth, the chaos won.
The Hornets coughed up the ball 27 times and still somehow had a chance in the final half-minute, only for Devin Booker to slam the door with a cold-blooded 28-foot step-back three, sealing a 101-96 win for the Suns and handing Charlotte another painful lesson in late-game execution.
White sparks, Anderson rises, but mistakes rule the night
This should have been the night Coby White’s return truly headlined the story.
On a minutes restriction, White delivered his sharpest outing of the season: 21 points in just 20 minutes, hitting 8-of-16 from the field, dropping in two threes and adding three assists. Every time Charlotte needed a jolt, he offered it, pushing pace, attacking gaps, looking every bit like a guard ready to reclaim a larger role.
Behind him, Christian Anderson Jr. quietly authored another step forward. For the second straight game, he reset his career high, this time with 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting and three made threes. His confidence from deep is no longer a novelty; it’s becoming a trend.
Grant Williams, making his season debut, added 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting with two rebounds off the bench. Efficient, composed, exactly the sort of stabilizing presence this roster often lacks.
But stability with the ball? That never arrived.
From 17 down to control — then it unravels
The game opened with a mess. Charlotte turned it over 10 times in the first quarter alone, gifting Phoenix a 17-point cushion early in the second. The Suns didn’t dominate so much as accept every present the Hornets handed them.
Then the tone flipped.
Charlotte tightened defensively, crashed the glass and finally started stringing together clean possessions. The Hornets ripped off a 45-24 run, flipping a blowout-in-the-making into a four-point lead heading into the fourth. They owned the boards, they owned the energy, and for a stretch, they looked like the more disciplined team.
That illusion didn’t last.
The fourth quarter brought back the sloppiness with a vengeance. Charlotte managed just six made field goals (6-of-16) and piled up nine turnovers in the final frame alone. Phoenix turned those nine mistakes into 13 points, a brutal exchange in a game that never drifted out of single digits.
Still, the Hornets hung around. Down three with 24 seconds left, they had a sliver of hope. Then Booker stepped up, rose over the defense from well beyond the arc, and buried the kind of shot that leaves no room for argument.
Ballgame.
Booker’s control, Suns’ composure
Booker didn’t just score; he controlled the night. He finished with 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting, drilling four threes, dishing a game-high-tying seven assists and swiping three steals. Nine of those points came in the fourth, where he operated like a closer who’s been here a thousand times before.
Dillon Brooks chipped in 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while Miles Bridges, facing the franchise he spent seven seasons with, posted 11 points, six rebounds and three assists. Phoenix, now winners of four of its last five, never panicked even as Charlotte surged back.
The Suns didn’t need to. They simply waited for the Hornets to hand the ball back.
Phoenix finished with just seven turnovers, tying a season low and marking the fewest by any Charlotte opponent this year. When one team gives it away 27 times and the other only seven, the final score almost flatters the more careless side.
Hornets dominate the glass, waste the edge
That’s what will sting most in the Charlotte locker room.
Without starting center Mark Williams, Phoenix entered the night dead last in the league in both overall rebounding and defensive rebounding. The Hornets, one of the NBA’s strongest rebounding outfits, did exactly what the matchup suggested they should.
They owned the glass 51-31. They doubled up the Suns in second-chance points, 16-7. On paper, that’s the blueprint for a comfortable road win.
On the floor, 27 turnovers burned the blueprint to ash.
Head coach Charles Lee didn’t hide from it afterward, pointing squarely at ball security and acknowledging that too many of the giveaways were self-inflicted, the kind that demand a “look in the mirror” from everyone involved.
Clutch-time cracks widening
The late-game issues are no longer a blip.
Charlotte opened the season with two wins in clutch situations — games within five points in the final five minutes. Since then, they’ve dropped three straight in those same scenarios. Across just seven total clutch minutes during this skid, they’ve been outscored 32-9.
The numbers are harsh: 30.0% shooting, 1-of-4 from three, four turnovers in that tiny but decisive slice of game time. When the pressure rises, their decision-making drops.
The loss in Phoenix fit the pattern a little too neatly.
A long streak, a long look ahead
Now comes an extended stay in Los Angeles and a date with a familiar problem.
Charlotte visits the Clippers on Sunday, Nov. 15, tipping off at 4:30 PM ET. The Hornets have lost 16 straight to the Clippers overall and 16 straight on the road, a drought that stretches back to Feb. 28, 2009.
They rebound. They compete. They’ve found emerging sparks in players like White and Anderson.
But until they stop throwing the ball away — and stop unraveling when the game tightens — how many more nights like this are waiting for them on the schedule?
