Five thoughts on recent developments with the Charlotte Hornets:

Welcome back, Big Al

Center Al Jefferson last played for the Hornets Nov. 28, when he suffered a left calf strain. Since then he served a five-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy. Jefferson is eligible to play Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies.

In the 11 games Jefferson missed, the Hornets went 5-6. While Cody Zeller performed well as a fill-in starter (and will likely continue to start, at least in the short run), the Hornets missed Jefferson’s scoring ability in the low post.

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Modern NBA basketball is about forcing the opposing team to double-team, which creates a weakness elsewhere. If you single-cover Jefferson in the post he will typically win the matchup. Double-team him and he can feed others, either for drives or 3-point shots.

Don’t expect Jefferson to have a big impact right away, as the Hornets haven’t practiced much of late during a busy stretch of the schedule. But he will have an impact.

Can’t afford to be high-turnover

The Hornets have lost five of their last six games, following a four-game win streak. As much as anything, the losses have been about turnovers.

In the past six games the Hornets averaged 14.5 turnovers, as opposed to an NBA-low 12.9 for the season.

Five times this season the Hornets committed nine or fewer turnovers in a game. None of those were in the last six. Six times this season the Hornets committed 16 or more turnovers. Three of those were in the last six games.

The Hornets have typically been low-turnover under coach Steve Clifford. They really have no other choice; they didn’t have the firepower to overcome giving away numerous possessions.

The Hornets are stronger offensively this season, but not so much that they can afford to stray from being low-turnover. Asked if there’s a pattern to these recent turnovers, Clifford said they’ve mostly come from pick-and-roll plays. This needs to tighten up.

Get back in transition

When Clifford got this job in the summer of 2013, he was asked what his "non-negotiable" is. Clifford said transition defense; If you don’t get back, you won’t play.

So Wednesday’s 102-89 home loss to the Boston Celtics must have been frustrating: The Hornets gave up 16 fast-break points, while scoring only four. Boston’s big men, particularly Kelly Olynyk, continuously beat the Hornets down court, catching nearly full-court passes for layups.

This is very uncharacteristic of who the Hornets have been under Clifford. And very costly.

Lamb levels off

Jeremy Lamb was having perhaps the hottest streak of his NBA career recently, scoring in double figures in seven consecutive games.

He has settled back some of late, reaching 10 points in three of the last six games. He has also reached 20 minutes in playing time once in those six games.

Part of that is P.J. Hairston playing better offensively, which allows Clifford to play him more in the second half. It’s also about Jeremy Lin playing well as both a point guard and a shooting guard. Hairston, Lin and Lamb account for most of the minutes beyond Kemba Walker and Nic Batum in the backcourt, and the mix is constantly shifting.

Front-court minutes

With Jefferson returning to the lineup and rookie Frank Kaminsky improving rapidly, the playing time for other Hornets big men has to shift.

It was telling that Spencer Hawes and Tyler Hansbrough combined for just 14 minutes against the Celtics. That figures to be more typical of their playing time going forward than the bigger minutes they played of late.