Hornets reporter Rod Boone delivers content you can't get anywhere else, from deep-dive analysis of the young core to the latest locker room buzz. A Charlotte Observer subscription gives you the best access to breaking news and exclusive player interviews. By DIAMOND VENCES
Perhaps sensing what was coming, the message Charles Lee delivered in the aftermath of the Charlotte Hornets’ previous games had a certain tone.
“Don’t be distracted by the results,” the Hornets coach said. “... I hope that we took from it (that) now coming into every game, it’s meaningful for every opponent that we have in front of us.
“For the opponents that it’s not as meaningful, it’s meaningful to us. We have to raise our level, raise our standard of how we are going to play.”
Lee might need to reinforce that point even harder following the Hornets’ performance in their 103-101 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on Tuesday night.
LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets. Brian Fluharty Getty Images
Unlike in their two losses prior to meeting Portland, when they could point to Miami and Phoenix as teams that are also fighting for playoff seeding, the Hornets had trouble edging past a team that’s battling for ping-pong positioning.
They were in jeopardy of not topping triple digits in scoring for a second straight contest, which should raise a slight alarm given the Hornets rattled off 20 straight outings before falling shy of the century mark in the opener of this four-game road trip in the desert.
Still, here’s the biggest takeaway: This is the type of game the Hornets of old would typically lose, stubbing their toe and lamenting yet another missed opportunity to stay within striking distance of teams immediately ahead of them in the standings like Philadelphia and Atlanta.
Instead, the Hornets (33-33) left the Pacific Northwest riding some positivity.
A 19-point deficit wasn’t too much to overcome. Even LaMelo Ball’s foul trouble, which had him on the bench for all but 13 minutes through the first three quarters, couldn’t trip up the Hornets.
“I think that was a character win,” Lee said. “From all the habits that we’ve been building from the offseason to the last couple of months, and weeks, and games, the guys stuck with it. We’ve had to win a lot of different ways with a lot of people on the court.
“Just proud of the group for sticking with it, but that’s the character that we’ve been building.”
Which came in handy against the pesky Trail Blazers. That page in the handbook is surely one the Hornets will have to refer to again over the coming weeks as they seek to end the NBA’s longest current postseason drought.
“The mindset of fighting back when things are not going our way, and just sticking with the process throughout the whole game,” Brandon Miller said. “We just executed.”
Here’s what else the Hornets had to say of note in Portland:
On biggest reason for turnaround vs. the Trail Blazers
“In that third quarter, the energy that we played with, I thought Moussa (Diabate’s) offensive rebounds gave us a little bit more life and spirit,” Lee said. “And Brandon (Miller) coming up with some big plays. And then I think defensively we really locked in and keyed into their sets and their tendencies … And when it really mattered the most, we hold them to 19 points in the fourth quarter.”
Head coach Charles Lee of the Charlotte Hornets. Christian Petersen Getty Images
On contributions of rookies Kon Knueppel, Sion James and Ryan Kalkbrenner
“You just love them even more,” Lee said. “It’s really cool to see them just continue to grow in these moments. I think Ryan’s put together a nice string or really good games right now where he’s coming in and you’re feeling his impact physically, also just in the paint dominating things on both ends of the floor. No matter what it says in the box score.
“And Sion same thing. We are putting him in a ton of different situations … and they’ve handled it so well. They just keep getting better. They embrace whatever their role is asked of that night.”
On where LaMelo Ball has improved as a two-way player
“I think just not ducking any smoke,” Lee said. “We want to be a great transition team and part of being great in transition is everybody has to be willing to understand there’s no matchups. All these teams are playing so fast, the ball is being passed ahead, passed across, there’s going to be a mismatch.
“And you can’t run away from a matchup just because that’s where to start or that’s the guy that’s not as involved in the action. And I’ve seen him step up in a major way to guard whoever it is.”
On what ‘flipped the script’ for LaMelo Ball this season
“I just saw the commitment level (and) the focus go up this (past) offseason,” Lee said. “His ability to set out goals that he wanted to achieve ... one of which is wanting to be more available and actually putting the action behind it, having a plan behind it, committing to that plan. He did at a really high level.
“It put him in a really good spot to start the season. He put on some muscle mass, he put on some weight, and it’s helped him throughout this whole year. The other part of committing to this offseason was to his teammates. They got to see him in the gym all the time. He was working extra with certain guys in the gym, and it was cool to see after the offseason workouts, guys being done with their workouts and chopping it up.”