Recap/Analysis: Hornets beat Magic in summer league opener

Liam McNeeley hit seven threes as part of his 28 points to lead the Charlotte Hornets to a comeback win over the Orlando Magic, 86-74.

The Summary

Liam McNeeley picked up where he left off last summer league, scoring an and-1 and a three to open the game. Hannes Steinbach’s first NBA action resulted in him blocking a 3-point shot. It was all part of a pretty good start for the defending summer league champs, but it fell apart pretty spectacularly in the last few minutes of the first quarter. They turned the ball over a bunch and got stuck on 10 points for about five minutes. Then they got stuck at 13 points for another five minutes into the second quarter. There was a possession coming out of a timeout where the Hornets got three offensive rebounds before scoring, that seemed to get everything moving in the right direction. The deficit was cut to six by halftime.

After briefly falling behind by a bit more, McNeeley made a couple more threes and the other NBA roster guys helped pull the Hornets all the way back and into the lead. At the same time, the team defense was stifling and the rebounding was dominant. It was like the play-in game all over again except the roles were reversed and it’s summer league. The Hornets built the lead out to double digits by the fourth quarter and cruised to the win without too much of a struggle in the fourth.

The Good

The culture. Hornets DNA. It shows itself again in the summer league. After a rough start, this group showed that once again, the front office has assembled a pack of dogs for its summer league roster. Like I said in the summary, there was a possession in the second quarter where I believe it was Sion James with one and Michael Ajayi with two offensive rebounds to keep the possession alive before Ajayi hit a three. From that point on, the Hornets were relentless on the glass and on the defensive end of the floor. They outscored the Magic 73-51 from that possession through the end of the game.

Liam McNeeley might mess around and become the greatest summer league player of all time. After debuting with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists last year, he followed that up with 28 points on 7-of-8 shooting from three to start this season. He also attacked the basket and got to the line more than the stats suggest because of the one shot free throws they’re doing now. He was clearly the best player on the floor in the summer once again and is making a case to push for regular minutes sooner rather than later.

Hannes Steinbach showed why the Hornets made him their first selection in the 2026 NBA Draft. He had a little bit of a bumpy start when the whole team was struggling in the first quarter, but he didn’t take too long to find his footing. His best skills translated immediately. He reeled in 11 rebounds in 22 minutes and was difficult to contain around the basket. His hands are phenomenal and his knack for finding tight angles around the basket is going to serve him well. He chipped in some nice extraneous stats as well with two assists, two blocks, and a steal.

Like Steinbach, Ryan Kalkbrenner got off to a slow start but found his groove in the second half and was pretty dominant from that point on. He had a couple of big time blocks on guys trying to yam on him and gobbled up seven offensive rebounds. He added five assists, including one really nice one through a tight window to a cutting Sion James.

To go full circle on the Hornets DNA thing, Michael Ajayi has it in droves. He was all over opposing ball handlers and he crashed the glass relentlessly. He’s on a two-way contract with the Hornets, and he’s probably going to be a fan favorite if he gets any minutes if he plays like he did in this game.

The Bad

It was not a debut to remember for Christian Anderson. He missed all five of his 3-point attempts and looked a little nervy with the ball in his hands. He had a couple of nice makes inside the arc but otherwise had a hard time asserting himself on the game. On the bright side, all but one of his misses from deep were inches away from going in, so it looks like the shot will come around. He just needs some reps to get comfortable.

The Incomplete

I wanted to talk about Tidjane Salaun somewhere, but it didn’t really feel like he played either good or bad. For the good, he did pretty well playing a role that he’d play on the NBA team. He hustled, played solid defense, and finished plays efficiently when they were there to be made. On the other hand, I would have liked to see him impose himself on the game more. He didn’t do anything bad, but I wanted to see him do more good.