Stock up, stock down: Evaluations from the Hornets home loss to Orlando

For the second time in three nights, the Charlotte Hornets come up on the wrong end of the scoreboard, this time falling to the Orlando Magic by a 123-107 score.

As always, it's time to take a look at our nightly stock watch.

Stock up: C Ryan Kalkbrenner

The big man continues to stay red-hot on the offensive end. He made each of his first seven shots from the field and finished the night 8/9, improving his mark to 27/30 on the season. Defensively, he recorded three more blocks, but his defense away from the basket needs some work.

Stock down: First half defense

76 and 71, that's how many points the Hornets have allowed in the first half of their last two games. The other night in Miami, it stemmed from not running the floor and being a step late on rotations. Tonight, it was a combination of Orlando making some tough shots (they were well overdue) and getting some open looks from three. In some instances, too open. They played much better in the second half but just dug themselves too big of a hole early on.

Stock up: G Sion James

The second-rounder out of Duke notched his first career start, which was a little unexpected, but it does make sense. The Hornets need a little extra scoring punch from their bench, especially after being outscored by Miami's bench 18-0 in the opening quarter two nights ago. It's also a testament to the work James has put in thus far. As far as his performance goes, not too shabby for his first start, chipping in eight points, four rebounds, one assist, and a steal.

Stock up: Collin Sexton

Collin Sexton has been everything the Hornets could have asked for and then some. Without him, this team would be spinning in mud in terms of offensive bench play. It's even more important that he keeps up this pace, considering Brandon Miller is on the shelf for the foreseeable future. I think we all may have underestimated how huge an addition he was to this roster.

The Hornets will be back in action Saturday night at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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