Miles Bridges scored 26 points and had a game clinching block as the Charlotte Hornets beat the Brooklyn Nets, 105-102.
The Summary
It was a rather uneventful first quarter. The Nets fired a heavy dose of threes, but they didn’t make a whole lot of them. The Hornets relied on twos with the outside shot not falling. A late three from Bridges brought the Hornets within two to end the quarter.
The second quarter was brutal to watch. The Hornets struggled to even get into their offensive sets, not to mention their inability to make shots when they eventually had to take them. There were three separate instances where Charlotte went two or three minutes between points. The Hornets finished the half 2-of-17 from three and down by 15 points.
The Hornets practiced their shooting at halftime or the basket on the other end of the floor was bigger or something. They made six of their first seven 3-pointers in the half and slowly chipped away at Nets lead. By quarter’s end, they only trailed by six.
D’Angelo Russell caught fire and scored the Nets’ first 15 points of the fourth. It looked like the game was slipping away, but Damion Baugh and Tidjane Salaün hit threes to stop the burning. They jumpstarted a 10-0 run to set up a competitive finish.
The Hornets took the lead with just over a minute and a half to go after Miles Bridges forced a turnover with aggressive defense against Russell. Moussa Diabate put in an offensive rebound for the go ahead bucket.
The teams traded a few misses before the Nets got the ball with a chance to win it with under 10 seconds left. Cam Thomas shook free for what looked like a wide open game winner, but Miles Bridges came from nowhere to block it away. Nick Smith canned a couple of free throws, and Trendon Watford’s game tying heave drew back iron.
The Good
The Hornets defended like their lives depended on it in the second half, and even more so in the final few minutes of the game. They held the Nets without a point for the final four minutes of the game. The only offense the Nets got in the fourth quarter was that hot streak to start the quarter from Russell.
Miles Bridges highlighted the good defense with two game winning plays near the end. He blitzed Russell with a double team that forced the Nets guard into a turnover, then he had the block on what looked like a wide open floater from Cam Thomas. He had another game leading offensive night with 26 points and five assists, but he won the game with those defensive plays.
Moussa Diabate was uncontainable on the offensive glass. He tracked down 10 offensive rebounds and drew fouls or deflections out of bounds on a number of others. He’s the primary reason the Hornets attempted 16 more shots than the Nets.
Damion Baugh got his first NBA start, and he made good with it. He got off to a slow start, but he was a major catalyst for the game winning run in the final few minutes. He was often the tip of the spear defensively and he got downhill for some layups when the Hornets got rolling.
The Bad
Josh Green put up a goose egg in the scoring column. Just not his night.
What’s Next
The Hornets hit the road for a four game road trip that starts in Miami on Monday.