LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Coby White all scored exactly 19 points to defeat a New York Knicks skeleton crew, 110-96.

The Summary

It took a little while for the game to get going, which wasn’t surprising considering the Knicks rested all of their starters and a couple key bench players. Both teams found scoring hard to come by. They were tied at a whopping eight points midway through the first quarter. Coby White checked and did what he always does. He went on a little personal run, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer, to put the Hornets up 10. They spent a lot of the second quarter adding a few points to the lead, but the Knicks were able to scrounge together enough baskets to keep the Hornets from getting too far out of reach. LaMelo Ball hit what was probably an ill advised 3-pointer in transition that stifled what was the friskiest of the Knicks’ attempts to keep the game close. He hit one more three right after and helped Charlotte to a 13 point lead at the half.

LaMelo hit another three early in the second half to tie Kon Knueppel for the NBA lead. The rookie responded by retaking the lead a few possessions later with his own three. The Knicks made a push through the middle of the quarter where they turned up the defensive pressure, which gave the Hornets some problems. Brandon Miller put a stop to that by drawing an and-1 after pump faking Ariel Hukporti intro the air. The Hornets got their lead back where it was to start the half and kept it around there. A Ryan Kalkbrenner and-1 added a single point to the Hornets lead between the end of the second and third quarters.

All the Hornets had to do in the fourth was prevent any sort of significant run early on. They did that and even added to the lead, but again, the Knicks went on a little run to rope the Hornets back to that same general margin where most of the game was played. And again, Brandon Miller was the one to slow it down by drawing a foul. Kon Knueppel scored an and-1 then found Sion James in the corner for a three that put the Hornets up 21 with a little under five minutes left. That was enough for Charles Lee to empty the bench to play out the rest of the game.

The Good

The Hornets just needed to take care of business against a depleted Knicks team, and they did just that. They got ahead by double digits and kept the game there for the vast majority of the time. It wasn’t always pretty, but the Hornets passed the test.

The Hornets finished a season where the over-under was 27.5 with 44 wins. They’ve been one of the better teams in the league for several months and have a chance to get back to the postseason for the first time in 10 years. Regardless of what happens in the play-in, this has been a great ride.

The Hornets had three players score exactly 19 points. Coby White was a dynamo off the bench. LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller were steady. There wasn’t anything flashy, but they did their jobs and put the ball through the basket when it was needed.

The Bad

While the Hornets did win and did so comfortably, it would’ve been nice if they were a little crisper in doing so. That might be coming from a spoiled perspective because of how dominant they’ve been in wins for the last few months. While the Knicks never really threatened, the Hornets also didn’t go on any explosive runs and shot a little below their norm. Ideally they would’ve run the Knicks out of the gym to build up some momentum and confidence heading into the play-in.

The Hornets have had some concerning fourth quarters in recent weeks when teams have turned up the heat on them on the perimeter. There was a bit of that in the third quarter of this one. The Hornets need to find a way to stay aggressive against that kind of pressure. They tend to get further and further away from the basket to try and get some space, and it totally breaks their offensive rhythm. They need to embrace the contact and continue to run their typical offense.

What’s Next

The win clinches the 9 seed for the Hornets. They’ll take on the Heat in the first round of the play-in on Tuesday. They’ll need a win to advance to the second round of the play-in on Friday.