Hornets were exposed by Atlanta and have issues to correct. Here’s where it should start

The wounds were still too fresh and stung like an old sticky band-aid being peeled off excruciatingly slow.

Getting exposed by their Southeast Division foes Wednesday night in Atlanta — which subsequently turned State Farm Arena into a club-like atmosphere fit for the likes of Jay Z, Quavo and Nelly all sitting courtside — had the Charlotte Hornets bothered. They were frustrated. Disappointed.

“All that,” LaMelo Ball said. “We just lost a basketball game. A big one at that. So everybody is just dealing with a lot of stuff right now, and it’s go home, regroup and see what it is.”

But unlike the other occasions prior to Wednesday’s 132-103 loss to the Hawks in the play-in tournament, there technically isn’t a tomorrow. Or a next game. The Hornets are done for the season, sent back to Charlotte in numbing fashion rather than heading off to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers on Friday with the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed and a first-round series with Miami on the line.

Things weren’t supposed to end like this, not after they supposedly learned their lesson a year ago with a 27-point play-in loss at Indiana. Charlotte’s unraveling even led to Miles Bridges uncharacteristically losing his cool. The Hornets were left bewildered they didn’t take the full leap from last season they were hoping for.

Processing it all wasn’t easy.

“I’ll need some time to digest this,” coach James Borrego said. “Obviously, we’ll move forward. I’ve got to digest this game and figure out what we can learn from this and then get back to work. It’s just about work now to take the next step.”

Atlanta exposed the area that’s gnawed at the Hornets all season: Defense. It’s an issue that’s cropped up considerably and the Hawks picked them apart with ball movement, usually finding an open man for an uncontested jumper around the perimeter.

In the postseason, good teams often find the weakest link and attack it offensively. That happened to the Hornets and that’s why unless they correct it by acquiring an athletic, shot-blocking center, it’s hard to see them climbing past the seventh seed — which is the play-in tournament cut-off line — and into the Eastern Conference’s upper echelon.

Far too often the breakdowns were caused by penetration on the perimeter because the Hornets don’t possess an intimidator in the paint.

“Obviously that’s the area we have to get better at,” Borrego said. “We’ll address it this summer. It’s on me, it’s on us. I own that. We own that. It’s partly personnel and partly we’ve got to go back and figure out what works best for us.”

It’s not the only thing among the items that should be on their offseason checklist leading into 2022-23. There are a few others that are in need of improvement, too.

“Just defense, decision-making,” Bridges said. “We need inside presence and we need to make smart decisions on offense. That’s the only things that hurt this year, that’s lost us games. I feel like if we fix that then we’ll be a great team.”

Those missing ingredients are costing the Hornets precious postseason time, something their young core has to accumulate to build the experience to sustain a winning culture. They have the main pieces like Bridges, who’ll be a restricted free agent in the offseason, and Ball.

Ensuring their trajectory isn’t stymied has to be a priority because they can’t afford another repeat in April 2023.

“Definitely tough,” Ball said. “But we’ve got to look forward to next year now. I just feel like the work starts now, just getting in the gym.”