Charlotte Hornets take charge behind guards Kemba Walker and Malik Monk
With a 126-121 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, the Charlotte Hornets remained on a roll and have now won three games in a row. Famed microwave scorer Kemba Walker led the team with 26 points, but it was his rookie teammate Malik Monk who stole the show down the stretch.
Heading into the final frame of the contest, Monk had only scraped together seven points, but found his rhythm when it mattered most. By the final buzzer, the white hot rook had racked up another 18 points to tack on to his total and finished the game with 25 points. The Hornets had high hopes for Monk when they drafted him 11th overall, but even they couldn’t have predicted his impact as a spark plug off the bench this early in the season.
The fearless first-year shooting guard drained 5-8 three pointers and showed off his highly touted shooting touch that made him such a coveted prospect coming out of the University of Kentucky. His timely sixth man heroics helped push his team over the hump and onward to victory, but even the talented two guard was out shined by the Bucks Khris Middleton.
Milwaukee came away from the matchup disappointed after losing their fourth game of the year to draw even on the season. While they were let down by the loss, it was impossible to be upset with the 43 point outburst from their starting forward Khris Middleton. The sharpshooting playmaker more than held up his end of the bargain as he ran a one man show on offense, but was let down by superstar wingman Giannis Antetokounmpo’s uninspired showing.
The Greek Freak was a beast on the boards, but posted a season low 14 points which was just half of his next lowest total this season. While he came up short in a rather advantageous matchup, Antetokounmpo has put together a solid MVP resume up to this point. Through eight games, the do it all point forward has posted imposing averages of 31.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 5.1 dimes, 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks, numbers that will surely turn the heads of MVP voters come award season.
