The Charlotte Hornets liked their week leading up to Christmas so much that they decided to do it again. The team played pretty well in their Wednesday and Friday games before forgetting how to basketball once the weekend rolled around.

Wednesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets would probably be a candidate for game of the year had it not happened on a random weekday in December between two teams in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Hornets played well for a lot of the game, but they couldn’t overcome hot shooting nights from Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris. Fortunately they were quickly able to make amends with a win over those same Nets on Friday.

And then the weekend came. The average Joe looks forward to those two days. They’re a respite from the monotony of the 9-5 life and they provide an opportunity to not work. The Hornets have apparently decided that they want in on that action.

The Hornets lost 130-126 to the Washington Wizards on Saturday. It was the third straight weekend loss for the Hornets, who have given up over 115 points in all of those games. The overall quality of play has been dreadful; the only difference between this game and the previous two blowout losses was the quality of the opponent.

The Highs

Kemba Walker continues to play like a man possessed on the offensive end. He averaged 37.0 points per game last week, second in the league behind only James Harden, and he did it while shooting 56.0% from the field and 56.7% from the 3-point line. The 28-year-old sits fourth in the Eastern Conference in scoring and is tops among guards in the conference. He’s making a strong case to be named an All Star starter for the first time in his career. With the All Star game in Charlotte this season, you couldn’t write a better script if you tried.

Malik Monk seems to be working his way into the good graces of head coach James Borrego. After a couple of DNP-CDs, the second year guard has played with more focus on both sides of the ball. He caught a lot of heat for a late turnover that led to the Nets’ game winner on Wednesday, but he’s played mostly good basketball otherwise. During last week’s trio of games, Monk played just about the same amount of time as Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Only Tony Parker got more minutes per game off the bench.

The Lows

The defense isn’t showing up on the road. The 134 points the Hornets gave up on the road to the Nets is somewhat inflated by the two overtimes, but the Nets still shot 49.0% from the floor and 40.4% from the arc. Opponents are now averaging 115.8 points per game when the Hornets visit their arena, which would sit between New Orleans in New York among the league’s most generous defenses. The Hornets defend well at home. James Borrego has to figure out a way to get that to translate when the Hornets go other places.

Miles Bridges appears to have fallen out of the rotation, at least for the moment. After getting just three minutes of court time in Friday’s win over the Nets, the rookie was glued to the bench for Saturday’s loss to the Wizards. Borrego is still tinkering with rotations, so it shouldn’t be long before Bridges is back in the lineup. Perhaps the rest will do him some good.

The Whole

The Hornets continue to hover around .500. They’ve been consistently inconsistent and have struggled to build up positive momentum. Up next are back to back home games against teams with losing records. Then they travel west for a six game road trip that features five teams currently with winning records.