Brandon Miller scored 23, Kon Knueppel took a game winning charge, and the Charlotte Hornets overcame a 19 point first half deficit to defeat the Blazers, 103-101.
The Summary
Kon Knueppel swished two straight threes then Brandon Miller added a pair of his own. It looked like the start of a shootout, but that would not end up being the case. The Blazers started running the Hornets off the three point line and into difficult shots inside the arc, and Charlotte could not make those shots. Scoot Henderson hit a couple of threes to help his team to a double digit lead after one quarter. The struggles inside the arc continued into the second quarter. The rookies made a push, and after a little bit of an answer from the Blazers, the Hornets were able to get one more run to cut the deficit to single digits heading into the half.
The Hornets wrestled with that deficit that hung around 10 for quite a while. They started finding their rhythm shooting the ball, but that coincided with an uptick in turnovers, and a lot of them were sloppy ones. Inaccurate passes, bad screens, and miscommunications derailed what could have been promising possessions. However, as the quarter went on, the strung together a bunch of stops, which helped them get the game back within a possession. It was a four point game heading into the fourth.
The teams traded a couple of buckets before LaMelo Ball, fresh off an extended rest due to foul trouble, powered a run that put the Hornets ahead. Outside of those buckets, neither team could put the ball in the hole. Portland went about four minutes without a basket, but the Hornets couldn’t do anything on the other end to take advantage. The lead exchanged hands a couple of times down the stretch. Demi Avdija found Robert Williams for a dunk, but that was matched by a pair of Miles Bridges free throws. Bridges stole an errant pass on the other end to give the Hornets a chance to put the game away in the final minute.
A bad possession gave the ball back to Portland. LaMelo was called for his sixth foul contesting a pass from Avdija. While he fouled out, it did save what would’ve been a dunk for Robert Williams. On the ensuing possession, Jerami Grant drove to the basket, and he was met by Kon Knueppel taking a charge with just under 13 seconds to play. Bridges made it a three point game with a pair of free throws, which put the Hornets in a position to make one more stop to win the game. That stop came via Toumani Camara throwing the inbound pass out of bounds. Brandon Miller hit the game clinching free throws. Scoot Henderson hit a half court buzzer beater to lose by only two.
The Good
All of the Hornets’s rookies showed out. Ryan Kalkbrenner has gotten more confident and more physical as the season has gone on, and he put both of those on display. He blocked a pair of shots and deterred several more. He batted around a bunch of offensive rebounds and had some pretty nimble dunks and finishes at the rim.
Sion James is such a steady bench piece for a rookie. He got extended time running the point with Coby White out and LaMelo in foul trouble, and the team didn’t miss a beat with him running the show. He finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds and the Hornets won his minutes by a point.
Kon Knueppel just keeps on keeping on. He hit four more 3-pointers to add to his league lead in that category. But his biggest play came on the defensive end. His Duke came out, and he took the game winning charge.
Miles Bridges had a brutal night for the first three and a half of quarters, but he saved it with a bunch of key plays down the stretch on both ends of the floor. Credit to him for righting his own ship.
The Bad
I about took this out because Charles Lee seemed to adjust in the second half, but the Blazers had a plan to take the Hornets out of their offensive flow, and it worked to perfection. Since Moussa Diabate and Ryan Kalkbrenner are non threats from three, Portland’s bigs would park in the paint when either center got the ball out high. That let the perimeter defenders defend high and take away the handoffs. It led to Diabate and Kalkbrenner getting stranded at the top of the key with nothing to do for several seconds at a time. And when they were able to get the handoff away, the ball handler was getting funneled down to a rim protector that was parked in front of the rim. Credit to Lee and company for adjusting, but that element of the offense could be a problem if more teams try that defensive approach. I’d think we’d need to see more Grant Williams at the five in those circumstances.
I feel like it’s been several games in a row where Miller has at least one turnover where he just kinda throws the ball away without any sort of pressure just because he’s not paying attention. Nothing major, but it’s frustrating to see pop up on a regular basis. It’s like the old Jalen McDaniels being guaranteed to have at least one rebound a game where he fights with a teammate for it and knocks it out of bounds.
LaMelo Ball fouling out is not ideal, and I know that’s been a sore spot in the past. In this game though, I didn’t think he did anything egregiously wrong. Just an unlucky whistle.
What’s Next
The Hornets head south to California to take on a Kings team with both teams on the second night of a back to back.