The Hornets just completed a very light week of play. Two games in seven days is practically a vacation compared to the normal weekly rigors of an NBA schedule, especially when one of those two games is against the league’s worst team. The Hornets lost that game to the league’s worst team. They also lost at home to the Philadelphia 76ers. Both games were of the soul crushing variety, but the two games were wildly different from one another.

The Hornets loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers was an utter embarrassment. The Hornets generated 23 3-point attempts deemed wide open by NBA’s player tracking data, yet converted only six such attempts. They attempted another 15 3-pointers classified as ‘open’, yet only hit two of those. Meanwhile the Cavs connected on an absurd 54.2% of their 3-point attempts while also cashing in on a bevy of inefficient mid range jump shots. Kemba Walker had one of his worst games as a pro, scoring just seven points on sixteen shot attempts. The entire game was one big anomaly, but it’s great ammunition for the coaching staff to use as a reminder of what can happen if the team doesn’t bring its best effort each night. The Hornets aren’t the Warriors. They can’t sleepwalk through games and win on talent alone.

After getting three days to let the loss to the Cavaliers stew, the Hornets received a visit from the Philadelphia 76ers. Again. It was the seventh time these two teams met within the last 35 Hornets’ games, dating back to last season. The 76ers took each of the previous six contests, and the Hornets’ captain wasn’t about to let them grab the seventh.

Kemba Walker came out with the energy and enthusiasm the team was lacking in their drubbing at the hands of the Cavaliers. Even before his scoring tally reached stratospheric levels, there was a noticeable fire to his game. In the end, Walker poured in 60 of the Hornets 119 total points. The mark set a new personal best for Walker, breaking his old franchise record of 52. Unfortunately, he was seemingly the only Hornet to shake off Tuesday’s lackluster showing. His teammates connected on just 32.3% of their attempts from the field, including 4 for 17 from beyond the arc. Jeremy Lamb chipped in with 20 points, but it took him 18 shots to get there. Cody Zeller was the only other Hornet in double figures.

The Hornets’ schedule doesn’t let up. Their next three games all come against teams that are expected to vie for home court advantage in the playoffs. Kemba is going to bring it every night. He only needs at least one other guy to step up to give the Hornets a chance to win. Jeremy Lamb is starting to show signs of being that guy, but he needs to prove that he can do it over an extended stretch of play. Malik Monk, Marvin Williams, and Nicolas Batum all need to up their level of play to help the Hornets get through this tough stretch. If any one of them plays to the level their capable of, there will be much happier times to review next week.