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Recap/Analysis: Hornets lose to Lakers despite big nights from Miller, Bridges

Brandon Miller topped 30 points for the second straight game and Miles Bridges scored a career high 41 points, but the Charlotte Hornets lost to the Los Angeles Lakers and their big three, 124-118.

Summary

Offensive superstar Ish Smith came out of the gate hot and scored the Hornets’ first six points of the game. The Hornets briefly took a lead with a couple of jumpers from Brandon Miller. They gave up a dunk line to the Lakers on the other end and quickly fell behind despite the offensive competency. Miles Bridges chipped in 10 first quarter points to keep the offense afloat as they ended the first quarter down 37-29.

Miller had to leave the game early in the second quarter with foul trouble. His team continued to struggle with keeping the Lakers out of the paint, and they had to deal with D’Angelo Russell getting hot from deep. Bridges kept the heat up with another strong scoring quarter and got some help from PJ Washington and Bryce McGowens off the bench. The Hornets lost their focus defensively and let the Lakers pull away late in the half. The second quarter had an identical score to the first, and the Hornets went into the half down 16.

The Hornets ran a play for Miller to start the second half and he cashed it in with an elbow jumper. He made up for lost time and got a bunch of shots up at the rim. He and Bridges led a little run that pulled the Hornets within 12 and forced a Lakers timeout to get refocused. Other than this alley-oop from Ish to Bridges, the timeout did its job.

The Hornets rookies scored the last six points of the quarter to trim the deficit to 14 heading into the fourth.

Miller made a couple of tough shots to start the fourth and pull the Hornets within 10. He was the Hornets’ primary ball handler for a good stretch of minutes in the early parts of the quarter. Bridges hit a stepback three just before the midway point of the frame to cut the margin to single digits for the first time since the 7:32 mark of the second quarter. The Lakers could feel the heat; they started rolling the ball in after the Hornets made shots to try to kill off some clock. Then Miller time hit.

Brandon Miller scored 12 straight Hornets points to bring his team within a couple of possession and electrify the building. The Lakers started throwing double teams at him, and he found Miles Bridges for an and-1 layup to keep the Hornets within striking distance as the game clock went under a minute to play. Bridges tried to pull the Hornets within one with a step back three, but Anthony Davis was able to block it with his elasti-arms. The Lakers hit their free throws to put the game away.

Bridges threw in a dunk in the final seconds to hit 40 points for the first time in his career.

The Good

Brandon Miller, I mean…

There’s not a whole lot more that can be said. He’s scoring at all three levels and displaying a killer instinct that superstar players need to have. He’s starting to see double teams when he gets the ball, which is just not a thing you typically see for rookies. In three games since winning Rookie of the Month in January, he’s averaging 32 points per game on 49.3% shooting from the field and 48.4% shooting from three. He’s made five 3-pointers in all three games.

Miles Bridges notched the first 40 point game of his career. He seemed to snap out of whatever funk he’s been in. He looked more engaged and decisive when looking for his shot and some of the funky acrobatic layups that are a staple of his best performances. He was steady throughout the game and getting hot from three always helps the offensive output.

The Bad

Not going to beat a dead horse here, but the Hornets defense is still so frustratingly bad. Players keep getting caught helping for no reason and there’s no connectedness once the ball gets moved. The Lakers low volume 3-point attack didn’t fully capitalize on the open looks on the perimeter, but they still got plenty of easy looks inside, especially on cuts.

Nick Richards has fallen into the background more often than not after his big stretch of games aa couple weeks ago. He scored four points on four shots in 32 minutes. He needs the ball fed to him to produce, so it’s not all on him that he’s not getting looks, but he hasn’t been as aggressive as we’ve seen him this season.

What’s Next

The Hornets take Tuesday off before a winnable (maybe?) game against the Raptors on Wednesday.

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