The Charlotte Hornets are 4-12 and are currently on a seven-game losing streak early in the season and a lot of that has to do with how they close out games. After building a double-digit lead in the first-half Wednesday night against the visiting Portland Trail Blazers, the Hornets, for whatever reason, started wilting in the third quarter allowing the Blazers to come back from an 11-point deficit and eventually win the game 105-97.
It was another wasted double-digit lead, another disappointing loss, and another fourth quarter where shooting guard Lance Stephenson was assigned to the bench. Stephenson, who signed a three-year, $27.4 million contract in the offseason, finished the game with eight points on 4-of-11 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals in 23 minutes. He was replaced by Brian Roberts at the third quarter with eight minutes still left in the period and didn't return for the remainder of the game. When asked about his diminished role late in games, Stephenson responded with a simple, "It's Coach's decision".
Its pretty clear that Stephenson is struggling early in the season with the Hornets and when he struggles his team struggles in the process. Hornets coach Steve Clifford believes that the 23 year old swingman's difficulties in adjusting during his first season with the team are partly due to his struggles to live up to external expectations.
"To be fair, one of the things that's made it more difficult for him is that he came here and people proclaimed him as the next superstar," Clifford said Wednesday per ESPN.com. "He's not a star. He's a guy that has talent to become a star. To be a star in this league, you have to do it over years."
So does this mean that the Hornets expected to much from Lace Stephenson when they signed him in the offseason? It appears so. Bill Reiter of Fox Sports who revealed per Hoops Hype that it was Lance Stephenson who caused so much negativity to Roy Hibbert during his time with the Indiana Pacers last season says that "from the start, folks in Charlotte started to realize in Lance they'd bitten off more than they'd planned on chewing."
As Charlotte, a team who went to the playoffs last season, continues to struggle, it may become clearer and clearer that Lance Stephenson is not the missing piece that they are looking for to reach the next level.
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