Sixers get routed by lowly Hornets
The Sixers drop to 0-13 at home after turning the ball over 25 times and getting beaten badly on the boards
WHEN MICHAEL Carter-Williams flushed home a transition dunk with just over 10 seconds to play, the home crowd roared.
It wasn't because the late-game two-handed slam had any significance in the result, rather it was the deal the fans will get on a Papa John's pizza thanks to the Sixers scoring more than 90 points.
Outside of that moment, the Sixers gave the home crowd little else to cheer about last night.
With games against two fellow Eastern Conference bottom feeders this weekend, the game served as an opportunity for the Sixers to pick up their third win of the season.
But Charlotte provided a look-in-the-mirror reminder of just how far behind this Sixers roster is, smacking the home team around in a 109-91 romping.
A 9-1 run in the middle of the second quarter stretched a nine-point Hornets lead to 17 and Charlotte never looked back. By halftime, the Sixers trailed by 20 despite shooting 48 percent from the field.
It was all the extras at which Charlotte was beating the Sixers: offensive rebounds, turnovers, second-chance points and getting to the free throw line.
On the night, the Sixers turned the ball over 25 times and allowed the Hornets to snatch 17 offensive boards - leading to an 18-2 advantage in second-chance points.
"That's a really big number," Brown said of the turnovers. "For us, it became rampant. We've said all along, it ends up being a problem with our young team."
The Sixers closed the third quarter with a 10-0 run to get to within 13, 85-72, with Tony Wroten running the point, JaKarr Sampson as the two-guard and Michael Carter-Williams on the bench. But that's as close as they'd get.
Kemba Walker paced the Hornets with a season-high 30 points on 13-for-23 shooting. The former UConn star was relentless, hitting from the elbow, getting to the rim and hitting three of four attempts from beyond the arc.
"Kemba was great," Brown said. "At times, we had a really difficult time forcing him to his weak hand. His jitterbug dancing and dynamic ways that he can create a shot are very difficult for the league to deal with. Tonight, he got his game going."
Al Jefferson (20), Gerald Henderson (11) and Gary Neal (10) joined Walker in double figures for the Hornets.
Wroten and Robert Covington led the Sixers with 19 points apiece. Carter-Williams posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists, though he turned the ball over four times.
The loss was the Sixers' 14th straight at the Wells Fargo Center. The record for consecutive losses at home to open a season is 19 by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1993-94 season. Last year, the Sixers lost 18 straight at home in a stretch that spanned 2 months from January to March.
On Sunday, the Sixers begin a seven-game road swing in Orlando (10-19) and won't play another game at Wells Fargo Center until Jan. 5.
"We've got a game on the road, so we have to focus on winning that game," Carter-Williams said. "We can't worry about winning at home. We just have to worry about our next game and try and win that."
Shved sent to Houston
In a trade that was headlined by Minnesota sending forward Corey Brewer to Houston, Sam Hinkie found a way to get yet another second-round pick.
As the third team in the deal, the Sixers parted ways with Alexey Shved, trading him to the Rockets. The Timberwolves sent forward Ronny Turiaf to the Sixers, who also acquired Houston's 2015 second-round pick as well as the rights to 32-year-old Ukrainian forward Sergei Lishouk.
Turiaf is expected to be waived by the Sixers, according to reports. The 31-year-old forward recently underwent arthroscopic hip surgery and is out for the remainder of the season. The Sixers now have four second-round picks in the 2015 draft.