Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) talks with head coach Charles Lee during a free throw during the second half against the New York Knicks at Spectrum Center. Jim Dedmon USA TODAY NETWORK
It’s not like everyone isn’t aware of the inevitable, understanding the end is near even though the curtain won’t officially fall for a few more weeks.
The Charlotte Hornets’ tragic number has dwindled down to two games, meaning they are on the brink of adding to their playoff absence. The NBA’s longest postseason drought is about to be extended to nine years, ensuring Spectrum Center will be mostly dark yet again during late April and May and continuing a maddeningly frustrating trend.
That’s what makes performances like the one the Hornets turned in Thursday night against the New York Knicks noteworthy. All they can do is play spoiler, making life miserable for opponents who assume the Eastern Conference’s second-worst team (record-wise) has packed it in and is merely going through the proverbial motions while awaiting the season’s conclusion.
“It just gives us confidence,” Miles Bridges told The Observer after the Hornets’ thorough 115-98 victory over the Knicks. “It gives us confidence knowing we can play how we want to when we are semi-healthy. Just imagine when we are fully healthy.
“As long as we keep building good habits, building winning habits, I think we’ll be good for next year.”
That’s why the next few weeks are still important in their own way.
Continuing to take the right approach, leading to the proper habits that could translate to potential success in 2025-26, is paramount for a team still learning how to win.
“Part of that is just finding a consistency with our effort, with our competitiveness, with our togetherness,” coach Charles Lee said, “understanding with the preparation has to look like coming into a game and then the game awareness to understand how things are changing once the game has started. And I think that guys are trying their best.
“It’s human nature we have lulls just like any team does in the NBA and in life, but we are trying to make sure we are staying locked in for as much of the game as we can.”
That, Lee insists, is non-negotiable.
“Obviously, coming off of that road trip, you go .500 and I thought we saw a lot of really good moments,” Lee said, “a couple of moments that we can continue to grow from. But the biggest part of trying to build winning habits is dealing with adversity and understanding what is the strength needed, what are the things needed to continue to keep kicking, keep grinding, keep fighting, keep competing.
“And I continue to see that.”
He’s not the only one.
Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams (5) with a dunk against the New York Knicks during the second half at Spectrum Center. Jim Dedmon USA TODAY NETWORK
“I think every game we’ve got to come out with that intensity,” Mark Williams said. “Obviously, it was the Knicks (Thursday night) but it really shouldn’t matter who we are playing. I think we just have to do what we focus on, having the right habits, starting and ending the game the right way. Just doing that to end the year.”
While navigating the final stretch, plenty of lessons remain for the Hornets. Several areas still need to be cleaned up, beginning with more chatter. And not necessarily of the trash-talking variety, either.
“There’s a lot of things, but for now the biggest thing for us is just communication,” said Josh Okogie, who’s closing in on returning from a left hamstring injury. “These guys, they love each other in the locker room. They are loud, they are energetic. They talk a lot. There are really a lot of extroverts on this team.
“So, I just try to tell the guys, ‘Have that same energy on the court, be that extrovert on the court, be loud, be energetic. Shootaround, practice, this is the hard stuff. Let your emotions show a little bit, communicate a lot. I think that’s right now the biggest thing I try to say now is just the communication aspect.”
The players are fully aware, too. There was one particular possession against the Knicks, where LaMelo Ball and Bridges got crossed up when switching defensively. Immediately after the whistle was blown, the two spoke about the mishap, gesturing in a way so each knew what to do if that situation arose again.
Wandering minds, albeit even for a brief second, haven’t been much of a problem lately.
“We’ve definitely been focusing on possession by possession,” Bridges said, “on offense trying to find a mismatch, on defense talking more, and just focusing on the details.”
Leading to the Hornets winning three of their last six games, with Lee’s directives resonating.
“It definitely helps,” Lee said, “but I think that the process is the most important part and sustaining that process, even with sometimes the results not being the way you want it. If there’s a good process and a bad result, I can sleep kind of easy on that front. It’s when you have a bad process, bad result. Those are the ones that really eat at you, I think.
“But I thought all night the guys were focused on winning habits.”
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