Nick Smith Jr. scored a season-high 24 points and Steve Clifford won his coaching farewell as the Charlotte Hornets rallied to beat the playoff-bound Cleveland Cavaliers 120-110 on Sunday.
had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for his first career triple-double for Cleveland, which rested All-Star shooting guardin the first round of the playoffs. They locked up a top-four finish Friday by beating Indiana, but lost 12 of their final 19 regular-season games to wind up 48-34.
“Orlando is a young team and they’re going to be fighting for a lot, so we have to come in with the mentality to throw the first punch,” Cleveland centerhad 14 points for Cleveland. Allen made all seven of his field goal attempts and went 20 of 21 from the field over the final two games.“The safety of our guys was the most important thing, so we stuck to our plan of giving the guys who play typical minutes for us no more than the first three quarters,” Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.
The 62-year-old Clifford, who will likely remain with the franchise as an advisor, has spent seven total seasons with Charlotte, including the past two, and is its career leader in games coached and wins . “I thought our guys had a great attitude in the last game of the year,” Clifford said. “Over these last 25-35 games, we were out of it, but they stuck together, practiced well and played some good games. I'm really proud of all of them.", who ranks second among NBA rookies with a 17.3 scoring average, did not play because of a right wrist sprain. Power forward
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Steve Clifford is stepping down as Hornets coach as 'grind' of 82 games becomes too muchCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Steve Clifford said the grind of an 82-game season became too much — and the losing didn't help, either. So Clifford informed the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday that he is stepping down as head coach after the season.
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Steve Clifford is stepping down as Hornets coach as 'grind' of 82 games becomes too muchCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Steve Clifford said the grind of an 82-game season became too much — and the losing didn't help, either. So Clifford informed the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday that he is stepping down as head coach after the season.
Read more »
Steve Clifford is stepping down as Hornets coach as 'grind' of 82 games becomes too muchCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Steve Clifford said the grind of an 82-game season became too much — and the losing didn't help, either. So Clifford informed the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday that he is stepping down as head coach after the season.
Read more »
Steve Clifford is stepping down as Hornets coach as 'grind' of 82-game got too muchCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Steve Clifford said the grind of an 82-game season became too much — and the losing didn't help, either. So Clifford informed the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday that he is stepping down as head coach after the season.
Read more »
Steve Clifford is stepping down as Hornets coach as 'grind' of 82-game got too muchCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Steve Clifford said the grind of an 82-game season became too much — and the losing didn't help, either. So Clifford informed the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday that he is stepping down as head coach after the season.
Read more »
Steve Clifford is stepping down as Hornets coach as 'grind' of 82-game got too muchCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Steve Clifford said the grind of an 82-game season became too much — and the losing didn't help, either. So Clifford informed the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday that he is stepping down as head coach after the season.
Read more »