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Recap/Analysis: Hornets topple Spurs as four starters score 20+

LaMelo Ball scored 28 points, and Brandon Miller dropped 24 in his return to the lineup as the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Victor Wembanyama-less spurs, 124-120.

Summary

Brandon Miller returned to the lineup and promptly knocked down a 3-pointer to open the scoring. The Spurs turned the ball over on each of their first three possessions. The Hornets scored off all of them and forced Gregg Popovich to take a timeout. The timeout helped the Spurs start making shots, but it didn’t stop the Hornets from making them. The Hornets did turn it over four times during that run, which was finally snapped by Terry Rozier getting a badly forced shot blocked by Jeremy Sochan. Keldon Johnson scored 10 straight and 13 total for the Spurs to make it a closer game, and the Hornets led by two after a buzzer beating floater by LaMelo Ball ended the quarter.

The Hornets made a couple of threes early in the second quarter, but for the most part the period consisted of each team brute forcing their way into the paint and tossing in short floaters and layups. It was some old school basketball. The Hornets closed the half on a little run that was capped off by Miles Bridges banking in a three at the buzzer to put them up eight. He scored 11 of his 18 first half points in the quarter.

The Hornets briefly held a double digit lead early in the third quarter, but the Spurs slowly chipped that away. Brandon Miller secured his career high ninth rebound on a nice putback dunk.

A couple of Cody Martin steals and a couple of LaMelo threes remedied that. The Hornets ended the third straight quarter with a buzzer beater, this time on a step back LaMelo Ball three, which was his third of the quarter. It gave the home team a 12 point lead heading into the fourth.

That 12 point lead was not safe. The Spurs started the quarter with a 13-2 run to force a Hornets timeout. The Hornets turned the ball over out of the timeout, and a pair of Keldon Johnson free throws briefly gave the Spurs the lead. Martin and Ball hit threes to jumpstart a 10-0 Hornets run that was capped off by this:

It was immediately answered by seven straight points off the hands of Tre Jones to wipe the lead away once again. The teams went back and forth, but this late layup from LaMelo proved to be insurmountable.

The Good

Brandon Miller came back after a week off and didn’t miss a beat. He scored 24 points and came one rebound shy of his first career double double. He continually looks like the smartest and most composed player on the floor for the Hornets despite his rookie status.

LaMelo Ball is getting his groove back once again. He scored 28 points on just 13 shots and dropped the pseudo-dagger by beating a double team for a reverse layup. He almost seemed to be in cruise control for most of the night and still dropped an effortless 28.

PJ Washington and Miles Bridges also topped 20 points. The whole starting lineup had their moments and looked like an actual competitive NBA unit.

The Bad

The Hornets bench continues to be a disaster. There just isn’t enough NBA depth there, especially on the offensive side of the floor. They scored 12 points in 72 minutes of court time. The Spurs, who are not a good team in their own right, more than doubled that output even after removing Keldon Johnson’s contributions.

Terry Rozier had eight assists, but he turned into a ball stopper at points in the second half. He turned too many possessions into iso opportunities, especially in late shot clock situations.

What’s Next

The Hornets are back in the short pants on Saturday night. They’ll be visited by the 76ers, who the last meeting by 53 basketball points.

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