P.J. Washington has been a staple of the Hornets’ starting lineup since arriving as the 12th overall pick in 2019. He's followed up a strong debut season with a reasonably successful sophomore campaign, averaging a hair under 12 points per game in his 41 appearances, including a 42-point outburst at Sacramento last month.
However, as with most young players, the Kentucky alum isn’t immune to the occasional lapse. Hosting the scorching-hot Suns (winners of five of their last six) for a matinee in Charlotte, Washington never quite found his rhythm Sunday, failing to register a single point despite logging a career-high 44 minutes. It wasn’t for lack of trying though. Washington hurled up seven shots including four three-point attempts in the loss to Phoenix, but came up empty each time. The 6’7” forward couldn’t even catch a break at the line, bricking both free-throw tries despite being a 77.6-percent shooter from the charity stripe.
The 22-year-old found other ways to contribute—he submitted two blocks while also corralling 12 boards, marking his third double-digit rebounding performance in his last four games. Still, Washington’s shooting stroke couldn’t have abandoned him at a worse time. The Hornets need all the offense they can muster right now with star point guard LaMelo Ball lost to a season-ending wrist injury. Visibly frustrated with how things were going, Washington picked up a rare technical (his second of the season) after being whistled for a third-quarter foul on Devin Booker.
Washington’s off night was compounded by a similarly tepid performance from teammate Gordon Hayward, who labored to 15 points on dismal 4-of-15 shooting (26.7 percent) as Charlotte totaled its fewest points (97) since a 93-point disaster against the Mavs on January 13th. Ugly is about the only way to describe Washington’s nightmare showing against Phoenix, though at least he wasn’t as bad as Tony Snell, whose historically inept stat line against the Jazz in 2017 will forever live on in infamy.
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