LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges each scored 23 points to lead the Charlotte Hornets to a riveting victory over the Dallas Mavericks, 110-105.

The Summary

Kyrie Irving caught the opening tipoff and dribbled into a 3-pointer just five seconds into the game. That turned out not to be an indicator of any hot offensive start, even for Irving. Both teams were sluggish for the early start, and Irving contributed to that with two airballs on his next two 3-point attempts. The Hornets slogged out to an early lead but lost it due to their own offensive struggles. Daniel Gafford began to assert himself late in the quarter and gave the Mavericks a three point lead heading into quarter number two.

Mark Williams, who got called for two early fouls, picked up two more on some–we’ll call them unlucky–foul calls. Miles Bridges also got called for a technical free throw while lining up to shoot his own free throws. Gafford remained the only consistent source of offense for the Mavericks and did enough to keep the Hornets a couple possessions behind for most of the second quarter. LaMelo Ball hit back to back transition threes in the final minute to even the game up at the break.

The Hornets drew up a play to get Mark Williams an easy bucket to start the second half. It was the start of a 7-0 run to start the half. The bled into eight quick points from Nick Smith Jr. Gafford and Spencer Dinwiddie answered on the other end to keep the Hornets from running away. The Mavs eventually overtook the Hornets and led by one heading into the fourth.

The fourth quarter was quite a spectacle for the neutral fan. The teams traded the lead back and forth before a 10-0 run by Kyrie Irving gave the Mavericks a two possession lead. The Hornets answered with a small run of their own capped off by a tomahawk putback by Miles Bridges to tie the game. They took the lead with a corner three from Nick Smith Jr. Both teams ratcheted up their defensive intensity, and that combined with the late game pressure made for some bad possessions from both teams. The Hornets desperately clung to a narrow lead into the final minute. The Mavericks had a chance to tie or take the lead late, but Kyrie Irving threw a wayward pass out of bounds trying to kick out to the corner.

The ensuing Hornets possession was the kind of possession that makes me people say that the last five minutes of an NBA game take 20 minutes. Between timeouts and a prolonged challenge by Dallas, it took probably seven or eight minutes for 13 seconds to tick off the game clock. LaMelo Ball knocked down one of the two free throws. Klay Thompson hesitated on his game tying 3-point attempt and missed it. Josh Green ran down the rebound, got fouled, and knocked down the game clinching free throws.

The Good

LaMelo Ball has been much more under control offensively in recent games, and while he struggled a little bit inside the arc, he found his shot from deep. But more impressively, he brought the intensity defensively. He overplayed denying Kyrie Irving the ball when Irving was starting to get hot and blew up some Dallas possessions.

Nick Smith Jr. started the second game of his career and had another really good showing. He keeps knocking down threes and shows little tidbits of new things you haven’t seen much out of him so far. He had a possession where he crossed over PJ Washington and hit a left handed floater in traffic.

Miles Bridges played another confident game and matched LaMelo’s team high 23 points.

Cody Martin had a vintage Cody Martin performance. He stuffed the box score with 10 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. He had a few really nice dishes around the basket and made his presence felt defensively.

The Bad

Mark Williams got cooked by Daniel Gafford. We’ll blame it on the early foul trouble. It seemed like Mark struggled to get into a rhythm and match the physicality of Gafford. He had a couple shots at the rim blocked and had some nasty double clutch layup attempts that a player his size should never attempt. It stinks to put him in this section two games in a row because he’s been so good. Even among all the struggles, he managed 13 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks.

Vasa Micic had a rough game off the bench. He didn’t score in 10 minutes and seemed to have a hard time with his dribble. He was pickpocketed by Kyrie at half court once and had a number of possessions that started to fall apart because he was chasing after wayward dribbles.

What’s Next

Playoffs? (Joking). The Hornets have won three out of four and are looking pretty strong. They’ll travel Memphis to take on the Grizzlies in what will be their last road game until February 9th. They’ll play nine straight home games in between.