The Charlotte Hornets did some good things last week. They also did some bad things that completely wiped away any optimism those good things created.

The Hornets kicked off the week with a road win in New York. It wasn’t pretty, but the Hornets did what they should have done- dispatched a clearly inferior team by a comfortable margin. They followed that with a comeback win over Detroit. Down ten with just five minutes to go, Kemba Walker caught fire and scored 12 points in the next three and a half minutes to give the Hornets a fighting chance. With the clock winding down and the ball in his hands, the captain drew three defenders and kicked it out to Jeremy Lamb, who knocked down the game winner.

Then everything unraveled.

James Borrego’s guys welcomed the New York Knicks into town on Friday with an offensive onslaught. The Hornets poured in 72 first half points en route to what should have been another blowout. But that didn’t happen. The Knicks switched to a zone defense in the second half and beat the Hornets into submission, ultimately winning the game in overtime. The Hornets followed that putrid second half with what will hopefully end up being their worst game of the season.

The Highs

The Hornets won another close game. They had every reason to lose to the Pistons on Wednesday, but they fought back from a double digit deficit. Walker got a taste of the 3-point shooting that has been eluding him, and Jeremy Lamb again proved a capable second fiddle. The buzzer beater was created by a Kemba kickout; there hadn’t been enough of those down the stretch in close games. That could be a turning point for Kemba the distributor when the game gets tight.

Malik Monk played some of his best basketball of the season over the course of the week. The numbers don’t jump off the page, but the second year guard’s composure seems to be coming along. He did a better job picking his spots than he normally does and he hit 46.7 percent of his 3-pointers.

Monk’s biggest contributions game in Saturday’s blowout loss to the Lakers, where he scored a team high 19 points. The Hornets next highest scorer? Rookie Miles Bridges, who scored a career high 17 points in the losing effort. He hit a couple of 3-pointers and showed some impressive body control around the basket on drives to the basket.

The Lows

The end of the game against the Knicks and most of the game against the Lakers were far and away the worst basketball the Hornets have played all season. In the four quarters stretching from the fourth quarter of the Knicks game through the third quarter of the Lakers game, the Hornets were outscored 132-87. They looked completely befuddled by the Knicks zone and were completely overmatched by the Lakers. It was a bad look for a team that had just climbed above .500 and into the six seed of the Eastern Conference.

Jeremy Lamb’s buzzer beater was almost canceled out by some buffoonery by the Hornets bench. Malik Monk ran onto the court to celebrate as the shot went down before Bismack Biyombo ran out to mid-court to hug Jeremy Lamb as the Pistons inbounded the ball. The Hornets were given a technical foul for too many men on the court, which thankfully resulted in a single inconsequential Langston Galloway free throw.

The Whole

Hopefully this is the low point of the Hornets season. Even after two soul crushing losses on back to back nights, the Hornets are just one game below .500 and sitting comfortably in the playoff race. Up next is the Cleveland Cavaliers, just what the doctor ordered.