Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball each scored 24 points in their returns to the lineup, but it wasn’t enough for the Charlotte Hornets to beat the league best Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Summary

Dean Wade splashed an open three to start then Miles Bridges clanged his attempt to illustrate exactly why these teams have almost inverted records this season. The Hornets early deficit was erased by some snazzy shooting by Brandon Miller. The teams played relatively evenly aside from a mini-run by the Cavs that put them up six after one.

A couple of really bad possessions by Bridges led to runouts for the Cavs that they cashed in. After a poor shooting first quarter, the Cavs found their range from deep through the early parts of the second quarter. It felt like you blinked and the Hornets were suddenly down 20. The deficit got even bigger than that, but the Hornets made some hay in the final minutes of the half. Nick Smith Jr. hit a couple of threes and swiped a steal on the defensive end. LaMelo Ball got himself to the free throw line. It all amounted to an 11-2 run that brought the Hornets within a respectable 15 points at halftime.

Brandon Miller opened the second half with his fourth and fifth 3-pointers of the game. Bridges got going for a bit and Miller hit another three a few minutes later as the Hornets put enough of a scare into the Cavs to force a timeout. The timeout settled things for the home team, and they briefly extended their lead once more, but just like in the second quarter the Hornets finished the quarter strong. NSJ made another three and a late floater as part of a 12-4 quarter closing run. The teams were separated by 13 heading into the fourth.

The teams went basket for basket in the fourth, which didn’t really work for the Hornets given the rather sizeable gap in the score. It turned into essentially a pickup game featuring one on one shots and mostly token defense.

The Good

The team recalled Nick Smith from the Swarm recently. Clearly they liked what they were seeing from him. He played more under control than we typically see from him. He picked his spots well and ended up with 18 points on 12 shots off the bench. He’s definitely earned some more minutes.

Brandon Miller looked healthy after missing most of the last few weeks with an ankle injury. He didn’t score in the fourth quarter, but he was decisive in the first three and was lethal with his jumper.

I thought the Hornets defended pretty well on the whole. They held the Cavs below their season averages for field goal percentage and 3-point percentage, and I don’t think that was luck. They contained drivers, which limited the help they needed to give and kept off ball defenders plastered to spot up shooters. It wasn’t a lockdown performance by any means, but it was pretty good.

Tidjane Salaün chased down five offensive rebounds. He didn’t really do anything notable otherwise, but that’s some good hustle.

Cody Martin had a quietly nice floor game off the bench with eight points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals.

The Bad

I wish the Hornets could shoot as well as the Cavs.

Miles Bridges’ up and down season continues. After a pretty good month of December, Bridges just registered his second straight game with a field goal percentage in the 30s. He seems to struggle finding his spots when Miller and LaMelo are in the lineup.

Speaking of LaMelo and inefficient play, he didn’t have his best game from the field. He somewhat made up for it with seven free throws, but he struggled to put the ball in the hole during live play. He made his last two 3-point attempts with the game essentially out of reach to help the stat line, but prior to that he was 5-of-18 from the field and 1-of-9 from three.

Nick Richards only played eight minutes and Taj Gibson got some floor time instead of him. I’m not sure why. Richards was on the floor to end the game, so it wasn’t injury related. Very odd.

What’s next

The Hornets make a quick stop at home before a long road trip. They’ll take on a Suns team in turmoil on Tuesday.