Moussa Diabate had probably the best game of his career, Brandon Miller scored an easy 26, and the Charlotte Hornets notched a convincing win over the Grizzlies.
The Summary
Moussa Diabate opened the scoring with a one on one bucket out of the post against Jaren Jackson Jr., which proved to be a harbinger of what was to come on this evening. Brandon Miller hit a bunch of threes and Miles Bridges added a couple to give the Hornets an early lead. That lead quickly grew well into double figures as Miller poured in 14 points in the first nine minutes of the game. JJJ was the only source of offense for Memphis and pulled them back with eight by quarter’s end.
The Grizzlies started the second quarter hot, quickly evened the game up, then even took a brief lead. Charles Lee got the starters back in the game, and they did what they’ve been doing all month. They got the Hornets the lead back and went into the half up by seven after JJJ traded late threes.
LaMelo and Bridges splashed three triples right out of the gate in the second half to restore the Hornets lead that had been largely squandered. The teams traded baskets for a lot of the rest of the quarter. Moussa Diabate had a wild tip-in that frustrated Jaren Jackson Jr. enough to earn the latter a technical foul. Miller hit the free throw, then Sion James dropped in a floater to put the Hornets up 15 heading into the fourth.
More Moussa magic bolstered the Hornets advantage early in the fourth. Things bogged down for a while in the middle, and you could feel a little bit of tension similar to the near collapse against the Wizards. But then Moussa hit a corner three, jumped a passing lane on the next possession, and soared for a dunk to effectively end the game.
The Good
Moussa Diabate was a superstar. He finished with 20 rebounds and countless extra possessions from deflections and fouls going for offensive rebounds. You could see his confidence grow as the game went on offensively. That along with the confidence he got from hitting a jumper last game led to him spotting up in the corner in the fourth quarter. He hit the dagger and had everybody throwing up their moose antlers. This is how you close a game.
Brandon Miller is playing like a guy who should be in the all star game, though it’s probably too late in the game to earn consideration. He makes scoring the ball look to easy, especially when his threes are going down like they have been in recent weeks.
Miles Bridges had a very effective game. He was second on the team in scoring with 20 points and picked his spots well.
The Hornets as a team are playing such good basketball. The decision making has been really good, and the good players are making shots when things get out of sync. It’s the fifth time in the last six games that they’ve held their opponent under 100 points, and it could have been a lot better last night if not for Jaren Jackson Jr. making some difficult shots in the first half.
10-1 with the preferred starting five. Can’t do much better than that.
The Bad
I can’t think of anything.
What’s Next
The Hornets head south to take on Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks for the second game of a back to back.