Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges (0) drives on Cleveland Cavaliers forward Dean Wade (32) during the second quarter at Spectrum Center. Scott Kinser USA TODAY NETWORK
It seems so far away now, almost as if things transpired light years ago.
Following a shortened All-Star break, and the national noise resulting from the rescinded trade with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Charlotte Hornets turned in one of the season’s most spirited and memorable performances, edging the team that gave them a virtual headache.
They haven’t won since.
Which is what made Friday night’s effort against the Eastern Conference’s upper crust all the more noteworthy.
“We’ve got to build off of this,” Miles Bridges said after scoring a career-high 46 points in the Hornets’ slim 118-117 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers at Spectrum Center. “We’ve got to bring this same type of energy to every game we play, not just for the No. 1 team in the NBA. We’ve got to bring it for every team that we play.
“So, we just want to build off of this and not think about past situations.”
Even one of the Hornets’ many newcomers was pleased with the approach against Cleveland, scoffing at anyone questioning whether they haven’t been giving enough resistance to the opposition lately.
“I disagree that the young fellas or the whole team is not competing,” Jusuf Nurkic said. “I feel like most of the time we are getting caught in numbers, and how the game finishes and what might be the result. But I think that most of the time, every game people come in and compete hard.
“The organization has a ‘big’ problem and I think as a playmaker, as a ‘big’ I can help there. And I think for the most part we are doing a good job as far as running better habits — to run the spacing right, not turn the ball over as much as a young group.”
Nurkic noted the Hornets aren’t exactly a team chock full of veterans.
“You can’t really judge young players when they are 18, 19,” Nurkic said. “It’s an everything experience. Every city is a new city and I was really surprised that we don’t have a lot of time to practice because of the schedule and stuff. That’s the biggest thing. Rep up. You need to be able to go on the floor and clean some stuff up.”
Immersed in these tough times, keeping the Hornets’ mental state pointing in the right direction could be a difficult proposition, an arduous task considering all the mixing and matching that’s a necessity given the number of injuries they have to navigate.
But apparently, that’s not the case. At least not yet anyway.
“Our psyche, I will give our guys credit, our staff credit,” coach Charles Lee said. “The environment that we’ve created around here, you are so just locked in on the daily improvement of it all. You try not to get too bogged down with the losses. It’s always just business as usual. You win, you come in, you work, you figure out how you can get better. You lose, you come in, you work, you figure out how you can get better physically and basketball-wise.
“So, that’s kind of been our whole process throughout the whole year and I think as we go forward, again, I’ll just use the word, being able to sustain longer stretches of playing really good basketball. Because I see it when I go back and watch the film, you see it during the game, you feel it during the game.”
The Hornets’ issue, among many that have cropped up all season, is consistency.
“It’s just, ‘How can you get yourself back on track or fight human nature at some of the critical moments of the game so it doesn’t get away from you?’” Lee said. “But I’ve seen a lot of really good things from different guys at different times during these stretches. I know that as we continue to keep growing, we are going to come up with a couple of more Ws.”
This is an important stretch for the Hornets, even with the unraveling of their season and the team poised to miss the playoffs again, leaving their home building empty in the spring once more — as has been the norm since 2016.
Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) celebrates a three point basket against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the second quarter at Spectrum Center. Scott Kinser USA TODAY NETWORK
LaMelo Ball’s development remains key and it’s something to keep a close eye on throughout the final five weeks of the star point guard’s fifth year. After failing to finish the past two seasons healthy, getting shut down early because of ankle injuries, the 23-year-old is in need of as much action as possible to sharpen his skill set and become even more familiar with what Lee wants out of him.
Plenty of things remain for Ball to work on.
“I think Melo’s energy has been really good the last few games,” Lee said. “I think he’s really helped on both ends of the floor, seeing him kind of get down in his stance and scrambling and helping rebound. There’s been some really positive signs defensively, offensively. I think trying to tighten up some of the turnovers.
“Obviously, he’s seeing a little bit more blitz coverages or two on the ball or the big is hiding, creating more indecision for him. So, if we can get him to play with a little more pace, and use his height and length and creativity to be able to hit seam passes or take care of it a little bit more, it would help our offense.”
By stabilizing things.
“Because as much as he has the ball in his hands it becomes contagious once he starts turning it over,” Lee said. “But when he doesn’t turn it over, he creates a great shot for himself or someone else. Obviously, his shot-making ability has been really good as well. So, a lot of good and some things that we will just continue to try to challenge him and keep learning from.”
Same goes for the other key core members, many of whom — like Brandon Miller, Tre Mann and Grant Williams — were entrenched in the row of sets behind the team’s bench. It’s on everyone else available to avoid building any bad habits, allowing them to creep in on either side of the court over the remaining 20 games.
Particularly on offense, where too much individual play can ruin the flow.
“I think we’ve had moments during the season where it’s been good and other moments where we’ve been a little bit sluggish,” Lee said. “But I think we see like a team with Cleveland, for example, a team that’s had continuity with each other throughout a whole season or a couple of years going through a playoff run, it helps in the offensive system.
“I think our guys have kind of rallied in spite of having some injuries and we’ve still kept to our core principles offensively. So, I think it’s just going to continue to get better and better as we get a little healthier as well.”
In the meantime, having the proper mindset is paramount. And a necessity for these Hornets.
“Wake up in the morning alive and ready to play in the NBA,” Bridges said. “It’s more stuff going on in the world that’s more depressing than losing a game. But we for sure want to get back on the right track and we are going to do that.
“… We need to show that we have had some type of growth throughout this situation, throughout this losing streak to show that we’ve learned from our losses.”
The Charlotte Observer
Roderick Boone joined the Observer in September 2021 to cover the Charlotte Hornets and NBA. In his more than two decades of writing about the world of sports, he’s chronicled everything from high school rodeo to a major league baseball no-hitter to the Super Bowl to the Finals. The Long Island native has deep North Carolina roots and enjoys watching “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” endlessly. Support my work with a digital subscription