The Charlotte Hornets made amends for their lackluster performance the night prior by dominating the Orlando Magic from start to finish.
The Summary
What a difference a day makes. After one of the worst offensive halves we’ve seen in some time, the Hornets came out and hit almost everything they threw at the basket. It wasn’t the most free flowing ball at first, but shots went in, and the offensive rhythm improved as the game got going. While that was going on, the Hornets carried over the defense that helped them back into the Cavs game and built a strong working margin. A rare and-1 on a free throw put the Hornets up 15 after a quarter of play. They continued their suffocating defense into the second quarter and built that lead into the 20s with a few little runs sprinkled throughout the quarter. They had some frustrating turnovers late in the half, but the Magic weren’t able to take advantage of them to make any significant dent in the margin.
Miles Bridge and LaMelo Ball hit threes to start the second half to reassert that this was the Hornets’ night. The Magic threatened to make a run at one point midway through the third quarter, but Brandon Miller quashed that. The lead ballooned to 30 as the bench units game in, and that’s where it sat going into the fourth quarter. The Magic cut 10 points off that lead early in the fourth, but the Hornets were able to answer any run the Magic threw at them. Moritz Wagner tried his best to make something happen, but it was far too little far too late.
The Good
The Hornets clearly game planned around the fact that the Magic are the second worst 3-point shooting team in the NBA. They packed the paint with bodies and went zone for extended parts of the game. That meant the Magic had more open looks than you’d typically like, but they aren’t good enough of a shooting team for to matter. They shot a manageable 37% from three, but they struggled inside the arc. The Hornets forced the Magic into 21 midrange shots, and they only made four of them. Perfectly planned and executed strategy.
After struggling on the glass against the Cavaliers, the Hornets recommitted to that part of the game last night. They gave up just six offensive rebounds and just two second chance points.
Brandon Miller is such a joy to watch scoring inside the arc. He was 6-of-8 from 2-point range and scored in just about every which way you could. And he put Paolo Banchero on skates.
LaMelo Ball bounced back from a few rough games to post a somewhat quiet but very effective evening. Just a nice, easy, efficient16 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds.
Miles Bridges doing this:
The Hornets’ bench thoroughly dominated the Magic’s. Tidjane Salaün has been out of the rotation with Grant Williams back in the picture, but he got minutes tonight and reminded everybody that he might actually end up being pretty good. Collin Sexton scored 19 points on seven shots. In total, the bench scored 55 points on 17-of-25 shooting from the field and 9-of-10 (!!) shooting from three.
The Hornets now actually have a better point differential on the season than the Magic. They’re +0.4 per game, which is eighth in the East. That usually is a sign that wins are coming.
The Bad
Me talking about it doesn’t matter whether or not LaMelo starts and then him starting, playing well, and the Hornets winning by a million points right in my face.
He played well so I don’t want to pick too many nits, but LaMelo has now gone three games without attempting a free throw. That might be something he’d want to look into rectifying moving forward.
What’s Next
The Hornets come back home to try to get a win in front of the home fans for the first time in a month. The last home win came against the Wizards. The Hornets play those very same Wizards on Saturday. The game has been moved up to noon to avoid the pending winter storm threatening the southeast.