The crunch-time Hornets are a disaster waiting to happen

Charlotte can’t be trusted in close games. They’ve lost 10 out of 13 one-possession thrillers and counting.

The Charlotte Hornets found a new way to lose another one-possession game to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night, this time via a creative double overtime meltdown. Missed free throws, untimely fouls and crunch-time turnovers saw Charlotte lose, 134-123, its 10th defeat this season by three points or less. They’ve become infamous for this.

The Hornets are now 3-10 in games decided by a single possession this season and a horrid 4-22 since 2016-17. They are a game below .500 at 16-17, but if just half of those 13 games came out as wins, they’d comfortably be the No. 6 seed.

Losses like these especially hurt because Kemba Walker is set to become a free agent over the summer. All this heartbreak isn’t making for a great pitch to keep him.

Walker carries so much of the offensive burden that the Nets used a box-and-one defense on him late in the game. NBA teams almost never use that type of coverage, which sees the best defender play man-to-man on the best offensive player while the other four defenders fall into a zone.

“It was crazy,” Walker said after the game, according to Nets Daily’s Anthony Puccio. “The way they guarded me, I don’t know if anyone else in this league is getting guarded like they guarded me. It was like a box-and-one. I haven’t seen that since I was in college. It was crazy.”

So how did Charlotte collapse this time?

A bizarre end of regulation saw both teams try to lose

The nightmare began with 14.7 seconds left in regulation. Charlotte led by three points and needed one defensive stop for a win on the road. That almost happened.

Spencer Dinwiddie chucked up an off-balance three that clanked off one end of the backboard and dropped to the floor. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist each got a hand on the rebound, which led to an all-hyphen jump ball with 8.4 seconds left. Same gameplan for Charlotte: One stop.

Brooklyn won the tip. Dinwiddie launched another prayer from nearly the same spot ... and got fouled by Jeremy Lamb.

With 6.5 seconds left, Dinwiddie sunk all three free throws to tie the game.

It gets weirder.

On the ensuing inbounds, Walker dribbled a circle around the perimeter, knowing he’d be taking the final shot. Hollis-Jefferson hip-checked him to the floor, giving Walker two free throws with 3.6 seconds to go.

He made one and missed the second to give the Hornets a 114-113 lead.

Then, inexplicably, Walker fouled DeMarre Carroll 75 feet from the hoop to send him to the foul line.

MELT. DOWN.

Bismack Biyombo was beside himself. This was peak Hornets misery.

Carroll made the first free throw and missed the second, but he got a third try after a Nicolas Batum lane violation. Then, Carroll missed that one, too! Off to overtime!

A flubbed overtime game-winner

Dinwiddie could’ve ended this in the first overtime. With a second to go, Joe Harris lobbed him the perfect ball on the baseline, but his floater rimmed out.

To double overtime!

That’s when Malik Monk threw the game away

It took two overtimes for Charlotte’s un-clutchness to rear its ugly head.

In a tie game with just over eight seconds to go, the second-year Hornets guard simply lost his dribble, allowing Harris to scoop the ball up up for the game-sealing layup.

Bottom line: if the game is close, don’t bet on the Hornets.

They’re good enough to stay in games, but lack the depth to pull them out. Kemba Walker can’t do it all alone, and the Nets really used a box-and-one to prove it!

If Charlotte doesn’t find Walker help in the trade market, his tenure might be up.