LaMelo Ball had 34 points and 13 assists while Miles Bridges had 33 points and 11 rebounds to lead a fourth quarter comeback in the Charlotte Hornets win over the Washington Wizards, 117-114.

Summary

The Hornets got off to a sluggish start. They let the Wizards jump out to an early lead as the offense looked disconnected and lacking purpose. It was not unlike earlier meetings with the Wizards where the Hornets made them look wholly competent, especially defensively. The Hornets only mustered 21 first quarter points and went into the second down by three.

LaMelo Ball made a pair of threes early in the second quarter and JT Thor and Bryce McGowens each chipped in one of their own to help the Hornets to a modest lead. Jordan Poole answered with a couple of his own 3-pointers, then the boys front Flint traded baskets. Kyle Kuzma, who only attempted one shot in the first quarter (that he missed), carried that momentum all the way through the end of the first half. He scored ten points in the final few minutes of the second quarter to flip the score and put the Wizards ahead. Nick Smith got a little burn, and his first contribution was fouling a 3-point shooter while he made a three. He made amends a bit with a floater at the end of the half, but Corey Kispert hit a half court jumper at the buzzer to put the Wizards up seven at the break.

After the lackluster end to the first half, the Hornets needed to show some fight and make a run to start the second half. They didn’t do it. The Wizards went on a 7-0 run in the first 1:17 of the second half to break out a comfortable double digit lead. The Hornets gave up 35 points in the third quarter and 67 in total over the middle two quarters and went into the fourth down by 13.

The Hornets finally woke up in the fourth quarter. They scored seven straight to start the quarter, and after a mild response from the Wizards, pulled as close as one after a Miles Bridges three. The Wizards took a timeout to try to stop the bleeding, but LaMelo found a cutting Bridges for his fifth assist of the quarter and a Hornets lead. The teams went back and forth for much of the fourth quarter. There a pivotal moment late that presumably caused wild swings in win probability. Mark Williams looked like he had a dunk, but he tried to tomahawk it and was ‘blocked’ from behind by Kyle Kuzma. The Wizards broke out in transition, but Bridges stole the ball and drove back in for a layup.

The Good

About to rename this the LaMelo Ball section. He was magical once again. He hoisted up a lot of shots, and not all of them were good, but he was the catalyst for most of the good things the Hornets did. 34 points, 13 assists, and 8 rebounds. To top it off, he hit two game clinching free throws after the Hornets started to go cold at the line late.

Miles Bridges had his best game since his return. He scored 33 points and teamed up with LaMelo to lead the fourth quarter comeback. He’s been a bigger presence on the glass than we’ve ever seen him, and his ability to make plays for himself has opened up a lot for the Hornets offense.

Brandon Miller had a solid 15 points and three assists on his birthday. His play is so composed that it’s easy to forget that he’s a first year player with one year of college experience. He was 3-of-6 from three and is now 9-of-17 from that range in the last three games. He hit the deepest three I think we’ve seen him hit. His confidence is growing.

Bryce McGowens had a good bounce back game. The Celtics took advantage of his lack of confidence in his outside shot. He rediscovered that confidence in this game. He made his first four field goals and three 3-pointers and had 13 points before he missed his first shot. The Hornets have badly needed contributions like that from the bench with all their injuries, and it was good to see McGowens bring that tonight.

The Bad

The Hornets did not come out to play in the first three quarters. The Wizards are bad, so it didn’t lead to a loss, but the Hornets can’t keep playing to the level of their competition. They need to find that killer instinct.

Gordon Hayward had another stinker. His play is lacking confidence right now. He did chip in six assists and nine rebounds, but the overall performance wasn’t good enough. The Hornets were -20 with him on the court tonight.

What’s Next

The Hornets get to celebrate Thanksgiving with three full days off. They’ll be back in action on Sunday against the Magic at a slightly earlier than normal start time.