The Charlotte Hornets experienced a scare during the first quarter of Monday afternoon’s matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans.
While attempting to save a loose ball from going out of bounds in front of the Hornets’ bench, star point guard LaMelo Ball collided with Charlotte head coach Charles Lee.
Lee, who was also going for the ball, inadvertently lowered his head into the face of his key player.
Both Ball and Lee went down in pain after the collision, but Ball took the brunt of the damage. After being tended to by medical staff on the sideline, he was helped back into the locker room for further treatment at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center.
Ball’s official injury diagnosis was a laceration above his eye.
Fortunately for the Hornets, Ball was able to return to the game.
After Ball’s return to the court, the Hornets went on to win with a 102-95 final score - marking their seventh consecutive victory. Ball finished the game with a team-high 24 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Charlotte also got solid production out of rookie sensation Kon Knueppel (17 points), red-hot forward Brandon Miller (16 points) and veteran role player Grant Williams (16 points).
The Hornets are the hottest team in the league heading into the month of February. After Monday’s win over the Pelicans, their record improved to 23-28 on the season - good for 11th position in the Eastern Conference standings.
Ball and the Hornets now turn their attention toward their next matchup against the Houston Rockets on Thursday night.
Newsweek