The Charlotte Hornets' clutch-time struggles have resurfaced early in the 2026-27 campaign, as the team was unable to pull out a victory against the Philadelphia 76ers despite shooting 50% from the field and getting a combined 51 points from Grayson Allen and Brandon Miller.

Here's what Head Coach Charles Lee said following the loss.

What went wrong in clutch time

"On the positive note, I thought that our guys did a great job of putting ourselves in that position to give us a chance to win a game versus a good team on the second night of a back-to-back. I think being in that situation, we're going to be able to go back and look at the film and watch how we can be a lot better. I even think there's some things before leading up to those clutch minutes that we can improve upon. Coverage execution defensively, offensively making sure that we're all on the same page and we're all in the same spots, and we're taking care of the ball in an appropriate way. But credit to our guys. I thought that the competitive spirit and the ability to have great individual pride and collective pride, and the energy that they brought and the togetherness that they had for most of the game was really good."

Challenge of guarding Tyrese Maxey

"Yeah, you just said it. He's a guy you gotta be aware of your spatial relationship to where you are and him because he's so fast and so dynamic. And then as you do that, he's developed a great off-the-dribble three-point threat as well. And then he does a good job, I think, of playing off of his teammates, allowing other guys to handle, and then you overshift, and he punishes you for that. So, a really dynamic scorer that beats you in a lot of ways. But I thought that our group collectively tried to make it tough on him all night. I thought the physicality was great. At times, there's certain things that players like him are able to get away with that you wish that you could see that consistency."

Turnovers in final minutes

"I would say just taking care of the ball will be something that we get to watch. But some of that is not just the person that turns it over. It's all of us being on the same page, and everyone being in the right spots and reacting off of each other. So a lot that we're going to be able to learn, which I'm excited to do."

Starting Royce O'Neale in second half

"I think that it just gave us a little more balance to our lineups. What he added to that group, I thought he was playing really good defense and was going to be able to take on a certain matchup and then help the flow of our offense a little bit, while also allowing Sion (James) to give our second lineup a little bit more balance as well as another ball handler and creator with Grayson (Allen), and where Brandon (Miller) was with his foul trouble. I wanted to be mindful of that, and so a lot of factors went into it. But that's the great thing about our team: the open-mindedness and the willingness to do whatever is necessary to hopefully impact and win a game."