Two trends that helped define the Charlotte Hornet’ 36-46 record in the 2016-17 season: They lost a lot of close games and the second unit was dreadful.
These were not unrelated.
The starters, when all five were available, were actually quite good at building leads. But when coach Steve Clifford had to turn to the bench, particularly in the later stages of close games, those leads were as fragile as Papier Mache sculptures.
That was particularly true when Kemba Walker and/or Cody Zeller was off the floor. In the minutes Zeller played, the Hornets were a net 5.