Miles Bridges scored 36 points and stuffed the stat sheet, but the Charlotte Hornets ran out of gas in the fourth quarter and lost to the Denver Nuggets, 129-115.

The Summary

Both teams got off to good starts. Just Nurkic did his best Nikola Jokic impression with a couple of nice early dimes. On the other end, Jamal Murray and Jokic each hit four first quarter threes. Despite a strong offensive quarter, the Hornets still trailed by eight after one.

With Jokic on the bench and Murray cooling off, the Hornets made a run to tie the game. Some crafty work by Seth Curry made up the bulk of the run. A timeout let Jokic return to the game, and the Nugs promptly scored 10 straight points to restore their lead. Josh Green had a nice little offensive run to help the Hornets trade buckets for the rest of the half to keep their eight point deficit.

Green stayed hot with two more corner threes in the early minutes of the third. Murray answered for the Nuggets, and then other players got into the action. Bridges took advantage of being matched up with Murray on a few occasions, much like he did in the first meeting. That got him going, and then he started splashing threes over the defense. He found Tidjane Salaün streaking up the floor on a fast break for a layup that could’ve given the Hornets the lead, but he was fouled and only made one of the free throws. The Hornets only trailed by three heading into the fourth.

Jokic started the fourth quarter on the bench, but this time, the Hornets couldn’t take advantage. Their offense was even worse than the Jokic-less Nuggies. They only had two fourth quarter points by the time Bridges returned to the game with 6:15 left. He finally made the Hornets second field goal of the period with 4:42 left. By that point, the game was getting out of reach. Nick Smith Jr. poured in seven straight points late, but Murray and Jokic kept pouring it in on the other end to run away.

The Good

Another strong game for Miles Bridges. He put together a solid first half but really took off in the third. He attacked mismatches and shot the ball with confidence again. He spent a lot of the second half as the primary ball handler when he was on the floor, and he consistently made good decisions. He ended up with probably his best statistical game as a Hornet.

Damion Baugh is somehow just a good player I guess? He scored 16 points after scoring 14 in his debut. He plays with a confidence well above what you expect from a recent G League call up. He had a couple of blow bys and savvy passes. I’d like to see more of him.

Josh Green was about as aggressive as I’ve seen him in a Hornets jersey. He had a stretch that spanned the second and third quarters where he was actually hunting shots. He hit his usual share of corner threes, but he built off those to set up some drives to the basket and a mid range pull up.

It was nice to see the Hornets be so competitive while so shorthanded. They played a better game than the final score would suggest, especially considering the rest discrepancy between the teams. This level of play with better players should lead to wins.

The Bad

Tidjane Salaün…I don’t know. He just hasn’t shown much growth yet. All he’s really been able to bring to the table is effort, and even then the effort doesn’t always put him in the right place. He’s 3-of-16 from the field in his last three games. He missed too easy putbacks in garbage time. It’s just not looked good.

Elfrid Payton has now put forth a goose egg in three of the four games he’s played as a Hornet. He defends pretty well and organizes the offense well enough, but it’s been a whole lot like watching Ish Smith with how much of a non factor he is as a scorer.

What’s Next

The Hornets head north to take on the Trail Blazers on Saturday night.