CHARLOTTE -- The Spectrum Center has become a house of horrors for Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Collin Sexton.

There's really nothing imposing about it. On Wednesday night, it was half-filled (if that) and not nearly as raucous as Bankers Life Fieldhouse, TD Garden or Chesapeake Energy Arena -- buildings Sexton and the Cavaliers have visited recently. The fans aren't nearly as ruthless as the fanatics who pack into Scotiabank Arena in Toronto -- where Sexton made his NBA debut and the final stop on this tough three-game road trip.

And yet, the sleepy Spectrum Center has been the setting for two of Sexton's most miserable nights.

Sexton finished with 11 points -- the third-lowest output since becoming the full-time starting point guard on Nov. 7. He missed 11 of his 16 shots and dished out just three assists against two turnovers. Sexton's nemesis, Kemba Walker, put the youngster into foul trouble late in the second quarter and schooled him on how to navigate screens early in the third.

"Kemba, he started to heat up in that third quarter and kind of took over," Larry Nance Jr. said following the 110-99 loss to the Hornets. "Think we gave up 40 in that third quarter and that was mainly him so any time a player like that gets going it's hard to slow him down."

Walker erupted for 17 points in the third. It led to the Hornets scoring 41, grabbing control of the night and never letting go.

Sexton wasn't solely responsible. Nance admitted he could've communicated louder and gotten to the perimeter faster. But the hope was to mix coverages against Walker, mostly sending him to the lane where he would be forced to finish over Nance's size. This is the NBA. It's about matchups. At some point, there's a level of responsibility to contain the counterpart.

Cody Zeller disrupted that at times, running up to set the screen which Sexton repeatedly went under. Walker buried Sexton and the Cavs under a pile of jumpers.

"I felt like first half it was my defense and second half he was making shots," Sexton said. "When he has it going like that can't do nothing about it."

Following Walker's fifth made basket in the first five minutes of the third quarter, Cavs head coach Larry Drew called timeout. A discouraged Sexton was greeted by assistant James Posey before plopping down on the bench. Coach Mike Longabardi gave Sexton a few more instructions. Then Nance had a chat with the rook.

Nothing worked in the second half. In some ways, it was reminiscent of Nov. 3 when Walker and the Hornets embarrassed the Cavs, handing them a 32-point loss.

Sexton has come a long way since then. In early November, he was the primary target of criticism -- a night some of his teammates famously said he didn't know how to play. Everyone can see major strides, as Sexton has blossomed into a promising core piece of Cleveland's rebuild. He's earned the starting lead guard role.

But nights like Wednesday are a reminder of how far he needs to go. The next step in his development became clear.

"A good game versus a bad game should not be predicated on your points and how many points you score, how many shots you make," Drew said. "You have to do the other things to affect the game and impact it. And that's an area where he has to grow.

"He's got the speed, he's got the quickness and every night it's not going to be a scoring night. ... That's just something that a young point guard has to learn. I know how much he wants to score but that's a side that he has to learn. He's gotta be very receptive to learning that side of it."

No play highlighted this quite like the one that led to Drew's ejection. Down 14 points in the fourth quarter, Rodney Hood picked off Tony Parker's pass and flipped it to Sexton on the break.

Sexton had a defender in front of him, Jordan Clarkson to his right and Jaron Blossomgame to his left, with a step and a half on his man. Instead of getting all the way to the basket or shuffling a pass to one of his teammates flanking him, Sexton chose to pull up and take a mid-range jumper from the foul line.

You could feel the widespread disappointment.

Walker, trailing the play, clubbed Sexton in the head. There was no whistle, Sexton crumbled to the floor and Drew went ballistic, running all the way out to center court to protest.

Here's the thing: Sexton got fouled. It was the most obvious foul call of the night and the trio of refs all blew it, compounding their mistake by calling two technicals on the complaining Drew.

But the coach also wanted to make something clear: Sexton made the wrong play. With a different decision, maybe Drew stays in the game. Maybe the Hornets don't go back the other way for a bucket that essentially punctuated their comeback.

Another teaching moment.

"I don't think it was the right decision that Collin made to shoot a pull-up in that situation," Drew said.

The best the Cavs can hope is Sexton sees it and recognizes his mistake.

"Everything is a learning process," Sexton said. "I felt like I ran the scheme pretty well and certain drives I wish I had back, but just flow of the game."

Sexton walked out of the arena around 10 p.m. He probably couldn't wait to leave Charlotte after another frustrating performance.

Perhaps the best news: He doesn't have to return until next year.