5 Takeaways From Hornets’ 116-98 Preseason Loss to Grizzlies

The Charlotte Hornets built an 11-point lead Friday night at FedExForum. The Memphis Grizzlies led by as many as 29 before the night was over and closed the preseason with a 116-98 win.

Charlotte finished its four-game exhibition schedule 1-3. Memphis went 3-1.

Seven Hornets were inactive, including Kon Knueppel, Coby White, and Grant Williams, none of whom played in a preseason game. Moussa Diabaté, who started at center two nights earlier in Boston, was also on the list with Grayson Allen and Kylan Boswell.

Here are five takeaways from Charlotte's preseason finale.

Charlotte turned the ball over 24 times. Memphis scored 23 points off them.

Naz Reid had 5 of the turnovers in 24 minutes. Christian Anderson Jr. committed 4, and Ryan Kalkbrenner had 3 in less than 16 minutes.

Two nights earlier at TD Garden, the Hornets committed 30 turnovers in a 114-93 loss to the Boston Celtics, and Boston scored 27 points off those.

In the 105-90 home win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 11, Charlotte had 14.

The Grizzlies committed 20 turnovers of their own, and Charlotte scored 21 points off them. Ty Jerome had 5. He also had 3 of Memphis' 14 steals.

Memphis outscored Charlotte 21-13 in fast-break points.

Hornets coach Charles Lee said the Grizzlies tried to jam Charlotte's outlets.

"Number one, would love to see us be able to just play a little bit faster," Lee said. "I think that, give Memphis a little bit of credit, they try to jam our outlets at times, but I do think that we can do a better job of getting up the court, sharing the ball, taking care of the ball."

"But I also don't want that our offensive struggles take away from our competitive spirit, especially on the defensive end," Lee continued. "So we got some things to clean up, but I think there was also some really good moments throughout that game."

Lee has said Charlotte's pace runs through Brandon Miller.

Miller played 25 minutes Friday and scored 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-7 from 3-point range.

He went 5-of-6 at the free throw line. He had 2 assists and did not record a rebound.

Two Hornets finished on the positive side of the plus-minus column. Both came off the bench, and both are rookies.

Hannes Steinbach was plus-4 with 19 points and 10 rebounds in 27:34, the most minutes on the team. He shot 7-of-9 from the field and 5-of-5 at the line.

Five of his rebounds came on the offensive glass, and he had 3 steals.

Anderson was plus-7. He scored 15 points with 2 rebounds and a team-high 6 assists in 21:33, and he went 8-of-9 at the line.

Charlotte drafted Steinbach 14th overall out of Washington on June 23 and took Anderson four picks later out of Texas Tech.

Anderson sat out the first two exhibitions with a sprained ankle before scoring 10 points in his preseason debut at Boston.

Lee started Dennis Schröder, Miller, Sion James, Reid, and Kalkbrenner.

In Boston, Royce O'Neale and Diabaté had started alongside Schröder, Miller, and Reid.

Schröder finished with 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists and was minus-24 in 21:30.

James did not score. He went 0-of-5 from the field, including 0-of-3 from 3-point range. In 22:44, he finished with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.

Reid scored 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

Kalkbrenner, starting in Diabaté's place, had 2 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

Off the bench, O'Neale made both of his 3-pointers and scored 6 points in 18 minutes.

Tidjane Salaün went 4-of-6 from the field for 9 points, and 3 of his 4 rebounds came on the offensive end.

Charlotte shot 41.3% from the field and went 10-of-33 from 3-point range. Memphis shot 46.2% and made 14 of its 34 attempts from deep. Cam Spencer went 3-of-3 from beyond the arc off the Memphis bench.

At the free throw line, the Hornets went 26-of-30. Memphis went 28-of-30.

Memphis outrebounded Charlotte 42-35. Both teams scored 17 second-chance points, and the Grizzlies had a 42-40 edge in the paint.

Cameron Boozer led Memphis with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists, and he went 9-of-10 at the line. Jerome added 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting and finished plus-26.

Charlotte went 1-3 across four exhibitions, and Lee has seen what he wants from this group in doses.

"Biggest thing for this group, I think, is just to continue to have sustained competitive togetherness," Lee explained. "I think that we've done it throughout preseason in doses. I just want to see more sustained efforts, and I think that that's part of having a new group come together, having new guys trying to figure out new positions and stuff, so it's part of the growing process."

"And I'm very excited about where we are," Lee added. "I think we've made a ton of growth, and I know we're not a finished product."

Before the road trip, Lee described the Hornets as not a finished product after the 105-90 win over Milwaukee.

The Hornets open the regular season Wednesday at Barclays Center against the Brooklyn Nets, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

Brooklyn beat Charlotte 124-90 in the preseason opener Oct. 6 at Spectrum Center.