The Charlotte Hornets dominated the Nuggets with a wire to wire win to finish their west coast road trip 3-2.
The Summary
Brandon Miller knocked down a three on the Hornets first possession to give them a lead they would not relinquish. Miles Bridges followed that with a layup to pass Gerald Wallace for third all time on the Hornets scoring list. Kon Knueppel hit a couple triples, and the Hornets were off to the races. The Nuggets sans Nikola Jokic could not generate good looks, especially when the bench started filtering in. The Hornets led by 15 after one, and they built on that in the second. They completely stifled Denver, so even though the offense wasn’t always pretty, the lead slowly grew. Brandon Miller gave it a little boost late in the half. By the break, the lead had ballooned to 24. The 36 points the Nuggets scored was the lowest the Hornets have allowed in a half all season, beating the mark they just said against the Jazz at the start of this road trip.
The teams traded baskets for the first few minutes of the third quarter, which was a perfectly fine place for the Hornets to be. LaMelo jumped a couple of passing lanes, one of which led to a rare dunk for him. A run by the bench brigade, capped by a Tidjane Salaün dunk, put the Hornets up 30 to start the fourth quarter. They were really sloppy for stretches in that fourth quarter, but they had such an insurmountably large lead that it didn’t really matter, especially when the Nuggets started just hoisting up quick threes. The Hornets cruised to their third win on their five game west coast trip.
The Good
The Nuggets are significantly easier to guard without Jokic, obviously, but the Hornets get credit for staying focused and clamping them up. The Nuggets went like two quarters without a made three in the middle of the game, and the Hornets did a fantastic job putting bodies between the ball and the rim. The Nuggets didn’t have the creative scorers to counter that, so they were forced into a lot of awkward floaters and 2-point jumpers.
When a team is without their top two centers, you’ve gotta control the glass. The Hornets did that. They had 16 offensive rebounds against just 21 defensive rebounds for the Nuggets, and that doesn’t count the many fouls that Moussa Diabate and Ryan Kalkbrenner drew on the glass.
Tidjane Salaün popped off. He had a double double in just 22 minutes and continues to add to his cache of surprisingly deft finishes. He had a putback dunk on the first half and a really nifty step through to a backhand reverse in the second.
Brandon Miller keeps stacking good games together. He’s going to be a problem when he’s not all bundled up everywhere. Kon Knueppel keeps chugging along.
It’s always nice to wrap up a road trip with limited minutes for your key players. Kon Knueppel led the team in minutes played with just 27.
The Bad
A 23 point win on the road to close out a road trip. I have no notes.
What’s Next
The Hornets fly home and get a couple days off before a game against the Cavaliers on ESPN on Wednesday.