All 11 of the Charlotte Hornets that played scored and nine of them made 3-pointers as they defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 123-92.

The Summary

It took about a minute-and-a-half for either team to score to start the game. The only real major event in the first several minutes was Taj Gibson picking up his second foul just a couple of minutes in, which pushed the Hornets into playing very small ball for the majority of the first half. Deputy center Miles Bridges threw down a thunderous dunk off a crossover, and that was followed by a series of threes to five the Hornets a 30+ point quarter and an eight point lead.

The Hornets made a few more threes as the second quarter went along. A mostly evenly played period gave way to a late Hornets run when the Pelicans went cold from the field. Threes from LaMelo Ball and DaQuan Jeffries put the Hornets up 18. They had a chance to go up 20 when Jeffries leaked out after a Pelicans miss, but his dunk attempt got hung on the bottom of the rim (he might have gotten fouled). Still, you take an 18 point lead at the half.

Some rugged defense and a Josh Green three gave the Hornets a rare 20+ point lead just a couple minutes into the third. They hit a rough patch after that and watched the lead get cut 13, but bringing in a small lineup immediately rectified it. Bridges moved back to center with a supporting cast of bench players, and they scored 12 straight points to take a 25 point lead, the Hornets’ largest lead of the season. A buzzer beating layup by Josh Okogie ensured the Hornets kept that lead heading into the fourth.

Things got slightly nervy about midway through the fourth as Zion Williamson and Jordan Hawkins cut the deficit down to 17, but the Hornets were able to stem the tide. A 3-point play from Moussa Diabate and a fast break alley oop from LaMelo to Josh Green effectively sealed the win. In garbage time, Isaiah Wong and Nick Smith Jr. made threes to tie the Hornets franchise record of nine players making a three in one game.

The Good

It’s not going to work in every matchup, but the Hornets might have found a little something in their small ball lineups. Their second most used lineup combination of the game was Bridges at center surrounded by Vasa Micic, Seth Curry, Josh Okogie, and DaQuan Jeffries. In less than six minutes on the floor, that group outscored the Pelicans 22-5. That same combination with Josh Green instead of Okogie outscored by the Pelicans 4-0 in a little over a minute. That was basically the difference in the game.

Miles Bridges’ box score doesn’t do justice to how well he played. He had a couple sloppy turnovers dribbling through traffic, but he felt like the Hornets’ best player for most of the game. He scored most of his points creating for himself and did a good job playing center defensively despite that never really being expected of him before.

Seth Curry had one of those games. He scored 16 points off the bench after making his first three 3-point attempts. It’s nice having someone that you trust will make just about any open look they get.

LaMelo is still struggling from deep, but he did a good job getting inside the arc and managed a kind of quiet 25 points.

Moussa Diabate had a Moussa game we haven’t had in a while. He tracked down 13 rebounds and didn’t hardly attempt a shot until the very end of the game.

Vasa Micic led the team with a +34 plus-minus and made all three of his 3-pointers (though he accidentally banked in the third one).

The Bad

Nothing really. This was the Hornets’ most complete game of the season. Everyone that played scored. There weren’t too too many turnovers. Just a good clean game.

What’s Next

The Hornets get Sunday off then host the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night.